Maritime Case Study: Fairplay 22, A Tug Vessel '

Fairplay 22 is a Tug Vessel; a tug vessel is used to assist a seagoing vessel whereas the vessel who needed assistance may be encountering technical problems or to assist difficult manoeuvres for example mooring. In this case Stena Britannica ordered two tugs from Fairplay Shipping Company because there are reports of strong to gale-force southerly wind. The tugs that the shipping company deployed in-order to assist Stena Britannica are the Fairplay 22 and Fairplay III. Through the VHF the captains of Fairplay 22 and Stena Britannica came to an agreement that the speed will be seven knots while performing manoeuvres and they also agreed that The Fairplay III will be connecting with Stena Britannica’s starboard stern and Fairplay 22 will be
The MARIN then revealed that the hydrodynamic interaction between Fairplay 22 and Stena Britannia depends on the speed and position relative to each other. The MARIN then stated that there are two components in Hydrodynamics interaction and it’s the sideways force and the turning moment which they said that the extent of sideways force and turning moment change as the Fairplay 22 moves towards the Stena Britannia’s bow and where they added that the hydrodynamics grows as both vessel sail and as the distance between the ship decreases. According to MARIN if only Fairplay 22 stayed within Safety Zone the collision could have been avoided. According to the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) manual a Safety Zone is the zone around the vessel which other vessel should remain clear unless authorised. Though the MARIN claimed that even in practice staying within the Safety Zone sometimes proves difficult to manoeuvres because the distance between the tug and the seagoing vessel becomes too great to take the heaving line (a heaving line is a thin line weighted at one end which is thrown to a vessel to be towed in order to establish towage connection). Also MARIN was assigned to investigate the drift angle of Stena Britannica which they have unable to gain a reliable result and then the MARIN stated that the fact that no
During the time of there is a record that a wind prevailed with a force 7-8 southerly wind (near gale and gale, 30 to 50 knots) on Beaufort scale. Despite the wind, The Stena Britannica was able to maintain a steady ground course. The Dutch Safety Board concluded that Stena Britannica’s ground course was barely affected by the wind although the course of Stena Britannica did affected slightly it was clear during the second attempt the ground course of Stena Britannica was steady. The Dutch Safety Board only got the information of Stena Britannia regarding the influence of the wind but no information for the tug because Fairplay 22 Do not have VDR (Voyage Data