Operating a growing fleet of over 100 tugboats covering 29 ports, the Fairplay Towage Group supports Europe’s maritime and offshore industries with hundreds of tug operations every day. Many of Fairplay’s tugs rely on the performance of Lankhorst’s ropes during these vital operations.
Lankhorst Ropes spoke to a technical superintendent at the Port of Rotterdam, to get Fairplay Towage’s verdict on Lankhorst’s ropes and towage solutions.
As a superintendent every day is different but principally my role is to work with our tug crews to ensure they are ready and able to assist Fairplay’s clients. This might be helping the crew, ensuring each vessel’s certifications are kept up to date or ordering equipment. Fairplay Towage is committed to delivering a reliable and swift service to our customers so having Lankhorst’s Dordrecht stockpoint close by to supply any ropes or towing kit needed is very convenient,” said Fairplay Towage’s superintendent .
“During operations, Fairplay Towage’s crews use a towing arrangement with a Strongline mainline and LankoForce forerunner, connected by a Lankonect soft shackle. Previously an eye-in-eye connection had been used but if there is an issue and the connection breaks, it is difficult to sort out. As a result, the easy-to-handle Lankonect, especially the three loop construction, has proved very popular with Fairplay’s tug captains.”
Commenting, Jacco van Snippenberg, sales director towage and salvage for Lankhorst Ropes, said, “Traditional towing configurations were often time consuming, labour intensive to make up and risked damage to the mainline or forerunner, and the cost of replacing them, from overpulling. Lankhorst devised the Lankonect to provide a new approach which would allow a connection to be quickly made without the need to handle heavy hardware.”
“As well as making construction of the tow line easier for the crew, Lankonect is also designed to improve the safety of towing operations. Lankonect allows a variable calculated breaking force to be set for the tow line, with the Lankonect connection either being the strongest connection or a calculated weak link in the towing configuration.”
The Evolving Maritime Industry
“Towing tankers, cargo ships and offshore energy infrastructure into port or providing offshore services and support are everyday activities for Fairplay, however, as our customer’s needs are evolving, so must we. To do this Fairplay Towage is currently adding several new tugs, with Fairplay 93 joining us at the Port of Rotterdam,” said the superintendent on the changing needs of the maritime industry.
“O design ASD do Fairplay 93 nos permite atender melhor os navios cada vez maiores que atracam em Roterdã, possibilitado pelo desenvolvimento contínuo do porto, ao fornecer um rebocador mais compacto com posições de reboque otimizadas. Dado que as cordas Lankhorst provaram seu desempenho ao longo de muitos anos em nossos outros rebocadores, foi natural optar novamente por Lankonect, Strongline e LankoForce para o Fairplay 93.”
Feito de fibras Dyneema, LankoForce oferece uma alta relação resistência/peso, tornando-o uma excelente alternativa ao fio de aço; Como resultado, uma resistência igual pode ser alcançada com uma corda menor e muito mais leve. Isso significa que o cabo é mais fácil de ser manuseado pelas tripulações, mas também pode permitir o uso de guinchos menores e mais leves na embarcação, que quando incorporados ao projeto de uma embarcação nova podem levar a economias substanciais de custos.
