Escort Tug Safety

Accounting for Dynamic Scenarios

in Design and Operations

Brendan Smoker, P.Eng.

March 1989 – Prince William Sound, Alaska
OPA ‘90 Impacts

• Tug escorts for tankers were

mandated in many parts of
the world
Escort Tug Technology
• At Robert Allan Ltd., extensive in-house research, model testing, simulations and full-scale
experience in past ~25 years has proven that well-designed tugs with various types of
propulsion can execute very effective escorting

CAUTION
Not every tug claiming to be escort-rated can
perform these duties safely or effectively
Various Configurations of Effective Escort Tugs
Key Features of Escort Tugs

Escort
Winch
Staple

Thrusters

Skeg
Escort Performance
Escort Performance
Butterfly Plot

RotorTug ASD
Escort Performance Prediction
• Past predictions relied on empirical
methods or model testing
• Most modern predictions carried out
using CFD
• All prediction assume quasi-steady state

• Significant advantages in both cost

and accuracy over full-scale testing
• Approved by international
Classification societies for certification
of escort forces in lieu of a full-scale
tanker escort trial
Challenges Today…
• To accurately predict escort performance and associated tug behavior in full range of
operating conditions
• Fully understand tug behaviour under towline forces
• Provide stability information to the Master
Next Step in Escort Tug Analysis – Accounting for Dynamics
1. Test existing escort stability criteria in
dynamic scenarios and identify ones
with potential risk
2. Test a proposed criteria for a heel
angle ‘amber zone’ that provides
guidance on the acceptable amount of
dynamic heel oscillation during escort
Class Escort Stability Criteria for Design
Criteria: C/D ≥ 1.40

Righting Arm
GZ (righting arm)
(GZ)

C
Max. Escort
Heel Angle
Heeling Arm

θHEEL Heeling Angle θ θD

Escort Tug Stability Force Balance

Overturning
Restoring

Hydrodynamic

Hydrostatic

Thruster
Operational Considerations
1. How does the tug master know what the operational limits are?
2. How does a tug designed to these class limits actually perform in a dynamic environment?
3. What if the tug stability is marginal and it is not operated within the speed and heel angle
limits?
Escort Tug Safety Placard

Mr. Tug
 Proposed
Amber Zone

1.4 < C/D < 1.0

Testing the Criteria
• Development of Six Degree of Freedom (6DOF) simulation environment
• Driven by hydrodynamic coefficients calculated using CFD
Dynamic Scenarios

1. Loss of Towline
2. Loss of Thrust
3. Cross Over Manoeuvre
1. Loss of Towline – Within Class Limits
2. Loss of Thrust – Within Class Limits
3. Cross Over – Within Class Heel Limit
Heel Angle Time Series
EVENT
Operating Past Class Limits
• What if the escort tug is not adequately designed for indirect escort and operated at a
steady heel above class limits?
• Artificial tug deliberately created with reduced stability
• Operating at a steady heel angle at 16 degrees
4. Cross Over – Exceeds Class Heel Limit
Additional Scenarios
• With and without active winch
• Escorting in waves
• Combinations of scenarios
Conclusions
• Demonstrated new simulation tool for assessing dynamic scenarios
• Results suggest current escort tug stability criteria are reasonably robust, although some
operational scenarios deserve further analysis.
• Importance of both being aware of class escort heel angle limits and staying within them
Next Steps
• Identify any additional dynamic scenarios that may also pose risks during escort operations
• Refine the proposed criteria for operational heeling angle limits taking into account not only
stability but also the risk of crew injury from various motions
• Potential for Joint Industry Project to take this analysis to the next level by identifying
highest risk scenarios and studying a wide range of tugs and operating conditions.
Questions?