Circular Letter
MSC.1/Circ.1255
GUIDELINES FOR OWNERS/OPERATORS PREPARING EMERGENCY TOWING PROCEDURES
(on 27 May 2008)
1. The Maritime Safety Committee, at its eighty-fourth session (7
to 16 May 2008), following a recommendation of the fiftieth session of the
Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment, approved the Guidelines for
owners/operators on preparing emergency towing procedures, set out in the
Annex, aimed at assisting owners/operators in preparing ship-specific emergency
towing procedures for ships subject to SOLAS regulation II-1/3-4.
2. The Guidelines are intended to help owners/operators to carry
out the necessary steps in establishing emergency towing procedures, provide
information on the scope of the Emergency Towing Booklet (ETB) and give
guidance towards creating procedures for towage.
3. The procedures developed by means of these Guidelines aim at
supporting the crew in establishing the safest and most efficient course of
action to be taken when confronted with an emergency that requires towing.
4. Member Governments are invited to bring the annexed Guidelines
to the attention of all parties concerned, for application in conjunction with
SOLAS regulation II-1/3-4 (Emergency towing arrangements and procedures).
ANNEX
GUIDELINES FOR OWNERS/OPERATORS PREPARING
EMERGENCY TOWING PROCEDURES
The purpose of these guidelines
is to assist owners/operators in preparing ship-specific emergency towing
procedures for ships subject to SOLAS regulation II-1/3-4. The procedures
should be considered as part of the emergency preparedness required specified
by paragraph 8 of part A of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code.
2.1 Owners, operators and crews
should take into consideration that the nature of an emergency does not allow
time for deliberation. Accordingly, these procedures should be practiced
beforehand.
2.2 The towing procedures are
maintained on board the ship for ready use by the ship's crew in preparing
their ship for towage in an emergency.
2.3 The crew should have good
knowledge of equipment stowage location and accessibility. Any identified
improvements to stowage arrangements should be implemented.
2.4 Crew dealing with an
emergency situation should be aware required for winches and tools, as well as
for deck lighting (for bad/low visibility and night time situations).
2.5 It is recognized that not all
ships will have the same degree of shipboard equipment, so that there may be
limits to possible towing procedures. Nevertheless, the intention is to
predetermine what can be accomplished, and provide this information to the
ship's crew in a ready-to-use format (booklet, plans, poster, etc.).
3.1 The owner/operator should
ensure the ship is inspected and its capability to be towed under emergency
situations is evaluated. Both equipment on board and available procedures are
to be reviewed. Items that need to be inspected are described in the following
paragraphs.
3.2 The ability of the ship to be
towed from bow and stern should be evaluated, and the following items should be
reviewed:
.1 line handling
procedures (passing and receiving messenger lines, towlines, bridles); and
.2 layout,
structural adequacy and safe working loads of connection points (fairleads,
chocks, winches, bitts, bollards), etc.
3.3 The on-board tools and
equipment available for assembling the towing gear and their locations should
be identified. These should include, but not be limited to:
.1 chains;
.2 cables;
.3 shackles;
.4 stoppers;
.5 tools; and
.6 line throwing
apparatus.
3.4 The availability and
characteristics of radio equipment on-board, should be identified in order to
enable communication between deck crew, bridge and the towing/salvage ship.
3.5 Unless the safe working loads
of connection points are known such loads should be determined by engineering
analysis reflecting the on-board conditions of the ship. MSC/Circ.1175 may be
used for guidance.
3.6 The evaluation should be
performed by persons knowledgeable in towing equipment and operations.
4.1 The Emergency Towing Booklet
(ETB) should be ship specific and be presented in a clear, concise and
ready-to-use format (booklet, plan, poster, etc.).
4.2 Ship-specific data should
include but not be limited to:
.1 ship's name;
.2 call sign;
.3 IMO number;
.4 anchor
details (shackle, connection details, weight, type, etc.);
.5 cable and
chain details (lengths, connection details, proof load, etc.);
.6 height of
mooring deck(s) above base;
.7 draft range;
and
.8 displacement
range.
4.3 All procedures developed in
accordance with section 5 should be represented in a clear and easy to
understand format, which will aid in their smooth and swift application in an
emergency situation.
4.4 Comprehensive diagrams and
sketches should be available and include the following:
.1 assembly and
rigging diagrams;
.2 towing
equipment and strong point locations; and
.3 equipment and
strong point capacities and Safe Working Loads (SWLs).
4.5 A copy should be kept at hand
by the owners/operators in order to facilitate the passing on of information to
the towage company as early as possible in the emergency. A copy should also be
kept in a common electronic file format, which will allow faster distribution
to the concerned parties.
4.6 A minimum of three copies
should be kept on board and located in:
.1 the bridge;
.2 a forecastle
space; and
.3 the ship's
office or cargo control room.
5.1 Ship-specific procedures
should be identified during the ship's evaluation and entered accordingly in
the ETB. The procedures should include, as a minimum, the following:
.1 a
quick-reference decision matrix that summarizes options under various emergency
scenarios, such as weather conditions (mild, severe), availability of shipboard
power (propulsion, on-deck power), imminent danger of grounding, etc.;
.2 organization
of deck crew, (personnel distribution, equipment distribution, including
radios, safety equipment, etc.);
.3 organization
of tasks (what needs to be done, how it should be done, what is needed for each
task, etc.);