STS Planning and Preparation - Fendering - Mooring - Unmooring The West of England P&I Club has issued Loss Prevention Safety Alert on STS Transfer Operations Incidents Resulting in Contact Damage to highlight the principal causes of recent incidents, and to focus on thesafeguards that should be considered to reduce the likelihood of contact damage during STS mooring and unmooring operations.The Club has experienced an increasing number of claims involving contact damage during ship to ship (STS) transfers, mainly during manoeuvring operations. Some of the incidents were serious. Following a claims review it appears that the majority of these cases took place in conditions that may have been unsuitable for the activity undertaken.Contributory factors generally included one or more of the following:Adverse weather conditions such as high winds, heavy seas, strong currents and/or tidal streams. In one case a daughter vessel, which was moored alongside an anchored mother vessel, made contact when trying to unmoor in a Force 8 wind. A significant number of other incidents occurred in winds of Force 6 or more.Lying beam on to a long swell while lightering a vessel which was partially aground. The swell increased during the operation, causing both vessels to roll up ...
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