ANCHORING AND SHIPHANDLING USING ANCHORS

ANCHORING Dredging an anchor Trailing an anchor Turning on an anchor - no tide Controllable factors in ship handling: Inertia Stop: Crash Stop Transverse thrust of the propeller. Rudder Pivoting Point Uncontrollable factors in ship handling Wind Current or Tide , shallows Turning short round Berthing - No tide - Port side to 2 .Berthing - No tide - (Starboard side to.) 4. Leaving - no tide - port side to 5. Leaving - no tide - stbd side to 6. Berthing - tide ahead . Do not berth tide astern 7. Leaving - tide ahead 8. Leaving - tide astern - port side to 9. Leaving - tide astern - stbd side to 10. Williamson Turn

ANCHORING

Factors to consider when deciding on how much Anchor cable to use. There is no magic formula but a rough guide is 3 to 4 times the depth of water (minimum) (One shackle = 15 fathoms = 90 feet 27.8 meters). But before anchoring consider the following points: 1 . Depth of water 2. Nature of the seabed. Some bottoms provide good holding power through suction and/or friction. Others do not. Good = mud, sand, shells, pebbles, Poor hard rock. 3. State of loading of the ship (draft / freeboard) 4. Wind, sea and tidal conditions 5. Anticipated length of stay 6. Proximity of shallow ground, land and other dangers 7. Number of other vessels at anchor or maneuvering in vicinity 8. Weather forecast 9. Any other?

SHIPHANDLING USING ANCHORS

Dredging an anchor Vessel moving, under control, with anchor moving along the sea bottom. Dredging is the means whereby an anchored vessel can maneuver down tide by heaving short on the cable until the anchor will not hold. When dredging, the vessels speed Over the ground is less than the rate of the stream and she therefore, has headway through the water to enable her to be steered. A strong tidal stream is necessary for the helm to be sensitive because the effective headway through the water will be less than if the vessel were securely anchored Trailing an anchor Vessel moving ahead, under control, with anchor moving along the sea bottom. Trailing is towing an anchor held at short stay ready to slack sufficient cable to hold if and when required to help a maneuver.

Turning on an anchor - no tide

Method I - Aim to turn on stbd side of the channel Approach with little headway, wheel amidships. At the turn, wheel hard-a-port, let go port anchor, stop engine. Allow cable to run out on brake to about twice the depth of water (i.e. sufficient to hold bows)while the way is reduced and cable set taut. When cable taut, put engine dead slow/slow ahead, wheel still hard-a-port, and gradually steam round until the required heading. Steady up, stop engine, heave up anchor and proceed. (N.B. For best turning the anchor should be positioned near ship's pivoting point. Also, cable can be heaved taut before putting engine ahead , thus avoiding undue stress on cable this maneuver can also be used when leaving an anchorage and needing to proceed promptly in a particular direction. Shorten the cable first to the appropriate amount.

Method 2 - Using full width of channel or in open water (transverse thrust) with or without a trailing anchor I . Start the maneuver from the port side of the channel to provide maximum distance for the head reach movement of the vessel. 2. Rudder hard a starboard, main engines kick ahead. Stop engines. Do not allow the vessel to gather too much headway. Trail the stbd anchor. 3.Rudder mid ships, main engines full astern. Ship the stbd anchor. 4. As sternway is gathered, the bow of the vessel will cant to starboard while the port quarter will move to port (transverse thrust). Stop engines. 5.Rudder to starboard, engines ahead. SHIP HANDLING Controllable factors in ship handling: Main engine power. Propeller. ( Fixed or controllable pitch) Anchors Mooring ropes / wires Rudder Bow thrust Tugs

Fore and aft thrust of the propeller. The propeller is more efficient in moving the ship ahead than astern because the lines of the ship are designed for that purpose. Full astern speed may only be equivalent to half ahead. Inertia Stop: When the engines are stopped with the ship going full ahead and the way is run off without putting the engines astern, the total distance run will depend upon the type of ship and the momentum (initial speed x displacement). The average distance run is about equal to half the initial speed, but for a particular ship the distance run when loaded may be three times as far -as when light. Crash Stop: When the engines are put full astern with the ship going full ahead, the total distance run will depend upon the type of engine in addition to the momentum and type of ship. The time taken to achieve full astern revolutions from full ahead will depend upon the type of engines, and it may be that the change is best done in stages. However, unless bridge control is being used, just ring/full astern immediately.

The average distance run is about 12 ship length and the ship may have turned as much as 90 degrees to starboard before coming to rest due to the effect of transverse thrust. The rudder could be used to help swing the ship away from a danger during the short delay of putting the engines astern, but once the engines are going astern the rudder will be ineffective. It has been determined that the crash stop distance can be reduced by putting the wheel hard over ,first one way and then the other during the delay of getting the engines going astern, but in a cases engines should -be put full astern at the earliest possible moment . Transverse thrust of the propeller. This is the sideways thrust of the propeller due to the lower blades working in greater water pressure than the upper blades. For right handed propellers (rotating clockwise viewed from astern) the resultant thrust tends to cant the ships head to port when the engine (not necessarily the ship) is going ahead, and the ships head to starboard when the engine is going astern.

Transverse thrust is more effective when going astern because the backwash of water against the ships stern causes the surface water to be considerably broken and thus further reduce the pressure on the upper blades. Transverse thrust is also more effective when light ship especially if upper blades are partly out of the water. Rudder The rudder depends for its effect upon the deflection of a stream of water. The stream of water to the rudder may be produced by the ship moving ahead through the water or by the water flowing past a stationary ship, or just by the propeller turning in the ahead direction. When the engine is going astern the rudder is ineffective because the propeller slipstream no longer plays upon the rudder, and even if the ship is still moving ahead through the water the propeller draws the water from the rudder. It may be possible to steer a ship moving astern if sufficient sternway is first obtained and then the engine stopped. The turning properties of a ship depend largely upon the size and shape of the rudder, in addition to the displacement, speed and weather conditions at the time.

Pivoting Point This is the point about which the ship turns when the rudder is put over, i.e. the point where the bows appear to be swinging inwards at the same rate as the stern is swinging outwards. The position of the pivoting point is not constant because it depends upon the water pressure acting on the underwater hull. When going full ahead through the water it is about one-third of the ships length from for'ad, and when going full astern it is about one-quarter the ships length from aft. When turning nearly at rest, the pivoting is about amidships. The turning circle is the path traced out by the pivoting point. Fully loaded with the wheel hard over and engines on-full ahead, the diameter of the turning circle is usually about four times the ships length. Factors such as rudder type, displacement, speed, transverse thrust, and weather conditions will all affect the diameter of the turning circle.

Uncontrollable factors in ship handling 1. The weather 2. Tide and current 3. Geographical features 4. Traffic density Wind The effect of the wind depends upon the area presented to the wind forad and abaft of the pivoting point. If the greater area is for'ad of the pivoting point, then the bow will tend to fall off and the stern come into the wind until the areas presented are equal, or vice versa if the greater area is abaft of the pivoting point. When the ship is making sternway the stern will always tend to come into the wind because the pivoting point is so far aft that the after area is always the smallest. Even if the wind is on the starboard side the stern will still tend to come up into the wind in anything stronger than a force 3, because the wind effect will overcome transverse thrust. The wind may be used to advantage when maneuvering but it must be remembered that the

effect is felt more strongly when the ships speed through the water is slow and also when the ship is light. Current or Tide The effect of the tide is to set the ship bodily and by the same amount whether light or loaded, but it must be remembered that the resultant course and speed over the ground is determined by the solution of the parallelogram of forces. The set is best allowed for when approaching an harbour entrance or channel by the use of leading lines (fixed objects in transit). The tide may be used to advantage when maneuvering. When the ship is working against the stream, manoeuvring is relatively easy because with the engines ahead the speed of the ship over the ground can be finely adjusted and the rudder is effective. When the ship is running with the stream, maneuvering is difficult because to stop the ship relative to the ground the engines must be put astern and then steering is lost. Berthing with the tide astern should not be attemptd without the help of tugs. Tide can be use to

 Improve slow speed control Create lateral motion In general it is better to stem the tide for the majority of ship handling situations whenever it is possible. Shallows This means where the depth of water is less than about twice the draught. The effects of interaction are amplified in shallow water. When two ships are passing close to each other, the varying water pressure between them may cause one or both ships to take a sudden sheer, with the result that collision occurs unless remedial helm is very quickly applied. Interaction effect increases with speed but it is necessary to have at least the adequate propeller speed required to maintain steerage way. The effect of inter-action must be watched for whenever you are passing close to -another ship, the tugs must be aware of the danger of interaction when they are coming in close to you. (See MGN 18 ) A similar effect can occur when a ship is approaching a shallow patch such as a shoal, she may take a sudden sheer, first towards the shoal and then away, this is known as ' smelling the ground '.

The effectiveness of the rudder and propeller are reduced in shallow water because the flow of water to them is restricted. Speed is reduced and she may be slow to answer her helm or at times fail to answer her helm. High speed in shallow water must be avoided due to the danger of grounding because of squat. In shallow water, the greater the speed the larger the bow and stern waves become and the more the ship squats i.e. increases her draught. SHIP HANDLING SITUATIONS Turning short round Turning short round means turning the ship through 180o taking the minimum of sea-room and in her own length if possible. With a right-hand propeller the turn should be made to starboard because the transverse thrust will help when engine is put astern. Approach the turning area with little headway and wheel amidships. Start the turn by puffing wheel hard-a-starboard and engine half / full ahead. (The aim is to maintain the swing without gathering headway or sternway.) When she starts to make headway, stop engine, wheel amidships, then engine full astern. (Transverse

thrust going astern will continue to swing the head to starboard, stem to port.) When she starts to make sternway, stop engine, wheel hard-a-starboard and half / full ahead again. Continue with this ahead/astern procedure until she nearly round, then steady is up and proceed. Berthing - No tide - Port side to Make the approach at an angle of about 20o to the quay, with little headway and heading for a point slightly ahead of the berth center. As the bow near the quay, put engine half astern. Transverse thrust will swing stern to port and bring ship parallel to quay. When nearly so, stop engine and get a headline ashore to check undesired starboard swing of bows. Make fast for'd and aft.

1. Berthing - No tide - (Starboard side to.) Make an approach at an angle of about 10 with the quay, with very slow headway and heading for the centre of the berth. As the bows near the quay, put

wheel hard a-port and give a kick on engine at half ahead, to swing stern in towards quay. Just before ship is parallel to quay, wheel amidships and use a kick half astern to cancel any further swing. Get lines ashore ford and aft. Another method is to get the bow on to the quay with a ford back spring out. Then with wheel hard-a port, go dead slow ahead on engine to swing in the stem. Ease out on back spring if necessary, until ship is alongside and in position. Make fast ford and aft. A third method which is preferable where room is limited, is to approach the berth trailing the port anchor so that sufficient propeller speed can be used in order to keep good steering ability and so that an astern movement to check the ships headway is not required. 4. Leaving - no tide - port side to Single up to a back spring ford. Let go/ . Slow ahead, hard to port to swing stem out. When about 3 points out wheel amidships, half astern, let go back spring . Transverse thrust will bring the bow off of the quay. When ship clear of the berth, stop engines, slow ahead and proceed.

5. Leaving - no tide - stbd side to Single up to a back spring ford and a breast line aft. Slow ahead, hard to starboard, slack away on the breast to allow the stern to come off. When stern canted a couple of points out, wheel amidships, half astern, hold onto the breast. The ship will pivot on the breast, the bows coming clear of the berth. When ship clear of berth, stop engines, let go breast. When line clear, slow ahead and proceed. 6. Berthing - tide ahead . Do not berth tide astern Have(anchors clear)and heaving lines, fenders and mooring ropes ready. Steam slowly up with just enough way on to stem the tide and carry u over the ground. (The ship is to be steered alongside so the approach path of the bow wants to be direct for the bow position, this does not mean however that the ships head wants to be pointed direct at the bow position of the berth). The approach to the berth should be made with the tide fine on the bow (about a point). When the bow is about half a beam width off of the berth, reduce revs just to stem the tide and have

fenders ready. Get the headline ashore and tight as soon as possible and then stop engines and let the tide bring her alongside. Send the back spring away from aft first to support the head rope . Make fast fore and aft. 7. Leaving - tide ahead Single up to a breast line ford and a good back spring aft. Prepare fenders on the inside quarter. When all ready, ease off on the breast line and allow the tide on the inside bow to cant her head out, using the helm :- help the cant if required. Let go the breast line as soon as risk of the quarter -striking the quay is past. (With a solid quay the tide will tend to cushion the stern from the quay). When the bow has swung a couple of points out from the berth, half ahead, let go the back spring, steady her up and proceed. Note: In theory another method to bring her off would be to use the same principle as stated under 'Steering at Anchor' and sheer her away from the berth by hanging on to a headline from the break of the foc'sle and putting the wheel hard over away from the berth. If the offshore anchor had been left down: Single up to a headline for'd and let go aft. Take any slack up in cable and then ease out on headline and

let the ship come away from the berth, at the same time taking in on the cable. When clear of berth and the ship astern, let go the headline. Heave the anchor up, half ahead and proceed. 8. Leaving - tide astern - port side to Single up to a good back spring for'd and a breastline aft. Have fenders ready ford. When all ready, let go. the breastline and allow the tide to swing; the stem out from the berth. When the stern his canted out about 3 points, full astern, let go the Back spring . The effect of transverse thrust will bring the stem up into the tide and straighten the ship off of the berth. When clear of the berth, stop engines, slow and proceed. Note: lf offshore anchor has bean left down, take it in before singling up. 9. Leaving - tide astern - stbd side to Single up to a good back spring for'd and a stern line aft. Have fenders ready for'd. When all ready, slack away on the stern line and allow the tide to swing the stern out from the berth. When the stern has canted out about 2 points, hold onto the stern line , come full astern on the engines and let go the ford back

spring . The ship will then pivot on the after line and straighten up off the berth. Take in the stern line as quickly as possible. When line all clear, slow ahead end proceed. Note: The reason the ship straightens up off of the berth is because the stern-line prevents transverse thrust taking the stern to port, the stern thus effectively held up into the tide and off of the berth. The tide on the inside then forcing the bows off of the berth. 10. Williamson Turn