Luis Carral Couce

Operation and Handling in Escort Tugboat Manoeuvres with the aid of Automatic Towing Winch Systems

An escort tugboat comes to the aid of a vessel when that vessel is navigating in confined waters and at a speed that is usually higher than six knots. In the escort manoeuvre, two systems come into play. One is the propulsion and steering of the vessel. The other involves the tug winch in terms of the tension it exerts and the length of towline released. In this way, the tug winch becomes a key piece of equipment. Along with the difficulties of carrying out the manoeuvre itself are the risks resulting from the operation of the winch. For this reason, automatic manoeuvring systems have been developed to facilitate this operation. They consist of information technology applications that help the skipper with manoeuvring the tug. At the same time, they make it possible to display and monitor the most important parameters of the towing winch. This study will describe a control system for the towline so that it can help carry out the towing manoeuvre with an escort tug. It indicates the control parameters for the manoeuvre, as well as the operational variables of the winch on which the system runs.

DISEÑO ARMONIZADO DE MOTONES, PASTECAS y CUADERNALES PARA EL MANEJO DE LINEAS DE ACERO O SINTETICAS DE ELEVADO MÓDULO (HMPE) EN BUQUES

Blocks, snatch blocks and sheavesy are the auxiliary elements involved in handling lines of rope mooring maneuvers, either loading or unloading, fishing activities or towing vessels. Nevertheless the fact of being an important auxiliary item, its regulation is still not only undefined but also discussed. The more and more frequent substitution of wire line for the high module HMPE synthetic ones makes the regulation out of force. The aim of this article is to establish a proposal for the design of those accessories by making a comparison between in force regulations, to obtain the desired benefits of low scale production by achieving the, so called, ideal standardization

Net winch design in trawlers, influence of vessel size and fishing ground:

With mid-depth trawling techniques, the number of fishing grounds available increases. In turn, the vessel can have a greater workload, as it has to control and direct its activity towards different species depending on the use of mid- or deep-sea equipment. However, specific equipment for each depth has to be used and this equipment influences the fishing manoeuvre. A new piece of auxiliary equipment comes into play to haul and store the net: the net winch. The aim of this study is to determine the most suitable net winch for each of the various vessels, fishing grounds and fishing modalities of the Spanish trawling fishing fleet. For each fishing ground, vessel size and target species, a relationship will be established with the net winch design parameters: fishing reel capacity, traction and operation speed.

Expert System for the Execution and Supervision of the Anchorage Maneuver

Yachting uses the boat, in navigation and anchored, to develop different leisure activities. In this use the vessel remains static a great deal of the time of its total use, which constitutes a notable difference with respect to merchant activity. Maintaining the safe condition of the vessel at anchorage is not easy for the crew due to multiple factors: navigation with reduced crews and/or lack of crew professionalism/experience, tiredness after long navigation, ignorance of the area, or simply lack of attention during this time. These circumstances can be increased when the crew decide to anchor to rest or spend the night and the meteorological conditions vary without adapting the anchorage of the boat to this new situation. The objective of the work is the description of the results of the EAS project in which a system for the automatization and supervision of the anchorage maneuver has been developed. The system is designed to assist the crew in the anchorage by means of partial automation of the maneuver. During the stay at the anchorage area, the system passes to a situation of permanent surveillance that allows the detection of dangerous situations of dragging the anchor, alerting the crew, and recommending an action.

Evolution of Liquified Gas Transit Through the Panama Canal—An Opportunity for Exploiting the Expanded Canal

The transit of vessels of liquified natural gas by the Panama Canal is a recent fact derived from the increase in the production and exchanges of natural gas via the sea. The application of new extraction technologies in the United States has as a consequence a surplus in production and an increase in gas exports through the progressive adaptation and entry into service of maritime terminals. At the same time, the consumption in Pacific Asia is rising as a result of the development of emerging economies and Japan’s policy of energy diversification after the Fukushima event. This imbalance between production and consumption between the Atlantic and Pacific maritime areas, and the increase in its transport demand, coincides in time with the recent expansion of the Panama Canal. The consequences for shipping seem clear because the Canal opens the possibility of LNG shipments from the Gulf of Mexico in the United States and Trinidad and Tobago to Asia. The LNG transport flows directed to Asian consumers are greatly influenced by the Canal rates. Estimations of minimum and maximum LNG loads corresponding to the years 2020 and 2035 have been used to achieve the objective of this paper: to study the effect of these flows on the sea route that transits Panama and its influence on the exploitation of its Canal.

Green Artificial Reef PROARR: Repopulation of Coastal Ecosystems and Waste Recycler of the Maritime Industries

The extractive work of shellfish harvesting and fishing in the autonomous community of Galicia is a strategic economic activity. In this sense, the action of artificial reefs is of great interest as they act as instruments of arrangement and protection of the marine resources and ecosystems. The PROARR research project has led to the design of independent modules of production and protection reefs, aimed at the construction of polygons of artificial reefs. One of the aims of the research work has looked for the reutilization of inert waste materials from industrial processes linked to the maritime area: naval construction, fishing, and shellfish harvesting, incorporating them into the production process of the reef. In this way, existence of dumps is reduced and the value chain of those processes is increased. The actual sustainability within the activity of maritime industries must promote the absorption of this inert waste by the sea, thus closing the activity cycle. In the case of the utilization of shells in the manufacture of artificial reefs (as an additive to the mortar used in its construction) it represents the double advantage of the elimination of a residue, with the subsequent increase in the value chain of these aquaculture processes and, on the other hand, returning to its origin a product which is part of a structure that can achieve the development of resources and favour the conservation of the ecosystems.