Tug Stability - Essential Reading in A Practical Guide

A practical, readable, expert handbook, Tug Stability – a Practical Guide to safe Operations  is essential reading for all tug masters, who experience the effects of their vessel’s stability every day, whether free sailing or assisting ships.

During tug operations, a number of forces and combinations are working on a tug – such as towline, hydrodynamic, steering and propulsion forces – often at or near their maximum with respect to the tug stability. It is, therefore, not just desirable but necessary for tug masters to have at least a basic idea of the elements of stability. They need to know where the limits are, and what the consequences could be, if the tug or tug handling practices don’t conform to the rules of stability – not only in normal circumstances but also when extreme conditions, such as dense fog and storms, occur.

The consequences can be very dramatic. Numerous harbor tugs have capsized, often with tragic results. In the tug capsizes known to have occurred between 2010 and 2015, more than 45 people have drowned.

This educational guide to stability, specifically for tugs, aims to provide this important information to tug masters. It is written in a manner readily understood by all tug masters, regardless of their education, formal qualifications, nationality or operational backgrounds. The text is accompanied by numerous illustrations and photographs.

In writing this handbook, the authors – master mariner and pilot Captain Henk Hensen and naval architect Dr. Markus van der Laan – have focused on the practical aspects of stability, tug design and equipment and also on the consequences of unsafe procedures. Their emphasis in on harbor tugs, although several of the topics covered apply equally to sea-going tugs.

Tug Stability (106 pages, hardback) is available from the publisher, The ABR Company, at £25 sterling. To order online, visit the website – www.tugandosv.com