Anthony Veder prepares for MEG4 with Lankhorst Ropes

With the OCIMF raising the bar for mooring equipment for oil and gas tankers, leading small scale LNG carrier, Anthony Veder, is working with Lankhorst Ropes to bring its mooring practices in line with MEG4.

Established in 1937, Anthony Veder is an integrated shipping company involved in all segments of gas shipping including petrochemical gases (Petchems), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Ammonia, and Carbon dioxide (CO2). The company’s fleet consists of 38 modern gas carriers.

Anthony Veder has worked with Lankhorst Ropes for over 10 years; Lankhorst ropes are now used on over 95% of the fleet. Initially the company used Eurofloat mooring lines but now uses exclusively Tipto Twelve and Tipto Eight mooring lines. Available in 16 mm to 48 mm diameter, Tipto Twelve’s 12 strand braided construction makes the rope rounder, more stable, more compact and with a smoother surface. This increases abrasion resistance and, as a result, the service life of the rope. “We prefer Tipto Twelve wherever possible thanks to its flexibility and ease of handling,” says Wouter van der Veen, Nautical Expert ,Anthony Veder. “Tipto Eight is used only where we need a larger diameter rope for some applications. We use Eurofloat and Nylon tails on the vessels that do offshore STS operations, the tails enlarge our operational window."

Wouter van der Veen welcomes MEG4 for both the crew safety aspects and insights it will offer into mooring rope performance and retirement. Under MEG4, vessel operators identify their mooring lines requirements and rope manufacturers show how their ropes are fit for purpose. Lankhorst Ropes was involved in the development of the MEG4 guidelines and has produced a new Mooring Rope Manual to assist fleet operators in implementing MEG4. 

Lankhorst is assisting Anthony Veder with the ship’s Line Management Plan (LMP) for mooring line management and Mooring System Management Plan (MSMP) by supplying information on mooring ropes and type approval certificates showing compliance with OCIMF Mooring Equipment Guidelines (MEG4), Fourth Edition 2018. As an aid to assessing the completeness of the LMP and MSMP, the Lankhorst Mooring Rope Manual offers Anthony Veder a FAQ approach to the OCIMF Ship Inspection Report (SIRE) Vessel Inspection.

“We are always looking for ‘added value’ from our mooring systems so MEG4 is a great opportunity to systematically monitor rope performance and establish better ways of assessing retirement criteria. At the moment mooring ropes are retired basis the retirement criteria as defined by Lankhorst, the requirement of the mooring rope running hour registration and periodically testing will result in a better prediction of the lifespan of the mooring rope and will at the end reduce the risks the crew is facing during the mooring operations, notes Van der Veen.

For Wouter van der Veen training is essential to the implementation of MEG4. “It’s important all our crews are trained on all types of  rope mooring lines and how to inspect them. Over the years Lankhorst has made the ropes more crew friendly but this is no substitute for crew training. For example, the introduction of an extra coloured marker yarns for Tipto Twelve in the range from 32 mm up to 48 mm diameter eliminates the risk of mixed mooring lines by making it easier to identify the correct rope size. We look forward to rolling out Lankhorst’s training as our shipping timetable allows.”

Wouter van der Veen is also involving Lankhorst Ropes in advising on new build mooring line configurations. “Working with Lankhorst will ensure our line-management and mooring-system management plans detailing how ropes are selected, maintained and when they should be retired, will be in place on Day One when the vessel comes into service.”

For more information on Lankhorst Ropes and OCIMF MEG4 visit www.lankhorstropes.com.

For more information on Anthony Veder gas shipping services visit www.anthonyveder.com.

images: courtesy of Anthony Veder