Winch Operator News

The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has released its report on the injury of a crew member during ladder operations on the container ship Moana Chief, citing weak safety culture on the part of the vessel’s operator.The incident occurred in the Port of Auckland on December 10, 2021 when the container ship Moana Chief was preparing to leave port. The crew had started to retrieve its telescopic accommodation ladder for stowing. A crew member’s leg was…

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced more than $703 million to fund 41 projects in 22 states and one territory that designed to help improve port facilities through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program. Following is the full list of FY 2022 Port Infrastructure Development Grant Awards:ALASKANorth Extension Stabilization Step 1 Project ($68,700,000), Anchorage, AlaskaThe Project will reconfigure and realign the shoreline within the “North Extension” (the area north of the existing general cargo terminals) at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska.

There were a total of 210 ships broken in the second quarter of 2017. 158 of these ships ended up on South Asian beaches for dirty and dangerous breaking, said NGO Shipbreaking Platform. The Platform was able to document five accidents at the shipbreaking yards in Chittagong, Bangladesh, between April and June, which led to the death of four workers and the injury of two. Ishaq worked as a winch operator and died struck by a cable at the BBC Steel Shipbreaking/KR yard. This is the second fatal accident this year at BBC Steel. Zishan died in an accident at the Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling mills where iron plates from the ships are transformed for the construction industry.

The first of three new dual fuel RAstar 4000-DF class extreme escort tugs, the Dux, has been delivered to Østensjø Rederi AS by Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Gondán S.A. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., the 40.2 meter vessel is the first of a three boat order from Østensjø for severe weather operations at Statoil's Melkøya LNG Gas terminal at Hammerfest in the extreme north of Norway. These escort tugs will conduct approximately 300 LNG ship escorts annually, assist with berthing operations and will be maintained in readiness for emergency services such as long line towing…

Two workers lost their lives at the Chittagong shipbreaking yards in the last two weeks, bringing the total death toll this year to six workers, reports NGO Shipbreaking Platform. On 6 May, 26-year-old Shahinoor died at Jamuna Shipbreaking yard. He fell from a great height when he was breaking the Hanjin Rome, which was the first vessel arrested after the collapse of one of the largest container ship companies last year – the Korean company Hanjin Shipping. The Hanjin Rome was put up for auction by the High Court in Singapore to be sold to the highest bidder early this year. Unsurprisingly, the highest bids for buying ships for scrap come from cash buyers that sell to the South Asian beaching yards who can offer higher steel prices with minimal disposal and labour costs and safeguards.

With the arrival of the Iron Kestrel and Iron Corella in Port Hedland, Western Australia, the first two of BHP Billiton Iron Ore's six boat order for Robert Allan Ltd.’s RAstar 85 Class escort tugs have now been delivered by ASL Shipyards Singapore. These modern high performance tugs will escort bulk carriers in and out of Port Hedland. They were custom designed and built to meet the environmental conditions and operational requirements of the world's busiest bulk commodity port by tonnage.

Mabruk Oil Operations ordered a shelter and helideck from a Dutch manufacturer in 2012. The contract involved delivery Free on Board Rotterdam. From this point, Conbit was assigned to arrange transport to Libya and installation on the BD-1 platform, off the coast of Libya. The project was awarded in two parts. The engineering contract was awarded in April, while the transport and installation contract was awarded at the beginning of September 2013, just three weeks before the scheduled transport date.

Ace Winches, the deck machinery specialists, is coming to Malaysia’s capital as part of next month’s Oil and Gas Asia exhibition at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. The company will be exhibiting as part of the Scottish Development International Scottish Pavilion in Hall 6 on Stand 6124A. Although this is the first time the Scottish manufacturing company will be on display at this trade convention, Ace Winches has a decade of experience in doing business throughout the region. In 2003 the company took its first order from Consolidated Pipe Carriers (CPC) for a ten point mooring spread consisting of 10 25-ton mooring winches and their associated Electric Hydraulic Power Units (HPU’s).

Triplex secures a new Triplex MDH 42 order from BOA offshore, including supply of Shark Jaws, Vertical Guide Pins & Spooling Block. Triplex say that BOA is the third ship-owner in Norway to opt for the Triplex MDH multi-purpose deck handling equipment on its AHTS vessels. The contract is for 1+1 vessel of Wartsila VS 491 design, and the equipment is scheduled for delivery in January 2014. "We are delighted that BOA has chosen Triplex Deck Equipment for its new AHTS vessels”, says Offshore Sales Manager at Triplex AS, Even Kippernes.

Seattle - Measurement Technology NW (MTNW) has announced an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to upgrade winch monitoring technology for the Coast Guard Icebreakers Healy and Polar Sea. This award brings new MTNW hardware and software technology to the support of winch operations, which are mission critical to these Arctic research vessels. NSF and the Coast Guard are working with MTNW because the Line Control Instruments’ (LCI) monitoring and control system provides advanced technology for on-deck safety, reliability, and research accuracy.