Synthetic Fiber 8,12 &24 Strand Ropes Manual by D. Koronakis Sa

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INSTALLATION & INSPECTION MANUAL

FOR SYNTHETIC FIBER MOORING ROPES


8, 12 & 24 STRANDS
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CONTENTS

Pages Description

3 COMPANY PROFILE

4 OUR CREDENTIALS

5 SYNTHETIC FIBER MOORING ROPES - 8, 12 & 24 STRANDS

11 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

18 OPERATION & HANDLING OF SYNTHETIC FIBER ROPES

20 GLOSSARY AND KNOWN FAILURES FOR MOORING ROPES

23 ROPE INSPECTION – ROPE REJECTION CRITERIA

26 RECOMMENDED MAIN D/d RATIOS

29 8 STRAND SYNTHETING MOORING ROPE SPLICING PROCEDURE

35 12 & 24 STRAND SYNTHETING MOORING ROPE SPLICING PROCEDURE

43 EXAMINATION CRITERIA FOR REPAIRS OR RETIREMENT

- EDITION 08/2018 -

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COMPANY PROFILE
D. Koronakis S.A. is the leading company in the manufacturing of ropes and
wire ropes in Europe and one of the largest and most important companies in
its field worldwide.
Established back in 1967 by the founders of the company Eleni and Dimitris
Koronakis, the company continues to be 100% family owned serving the needs
of the Shipping, Offshore Oil and Gas, Drilling and Towing, Yachting and Sailing,
Fishing and Aquaculture Industries.
Our product range includes hi-tec synthetic ropes, wire and combination
ropes, mooring ropes and specialized sailing and yachting ropes. Produced in
Greece, all our products are globally recognized for their top quality and
technical performance and comply with International Certification
Organizations.
In recent years, the production units of the company have expanded, covering
more than 40,000 m2 of building areas on more than 100,000 m2 of land where
we keep large stock of anchors, chains and anchor chains, fiber slings, rigging
gears and various accessories. The company operates a state of the art factory
that is able to produce any kind of rope, of any size, quality, length or color.
The mission statement of the company is "to focus on customer satisfaction,
worldwide coverage, custom-made design and development of unique
products." To succeed in this, while also being able to respond 24/7 to our
customer's needs all over the world, we have built a distribution network with
our best selling products at the biggest ports worldwide:
Piraeus, New York, Houston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Panama, Dominican
Republic, Singapore, Fujairah, Durban, Cape Town, Rotterdam, Antwerp,
Hamburg, Livorno, Tarragona, Algeciras, Las Palmas.
The company is daily looking into new challenges and is equipped with
machinery of latest technology. To guarantee top quality control for our
products, we have established in our factory and operate the biggest Test Bench
available in southern Europe.

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OUR CREDENTIALS

 Member of ISSA ,IMPA, Helmepa, Hemexpo & WIMA


 In Lloyd’s list as wire rope manufacturers since 1972
 ISO 9001:2015 certified by UKAS-B.V.Q.I
 ISO 14001:2015 certified by UKAS-B.V.Q.I
 Our 500 T & 150 T test benches – fully computerized – and other
equipment, calibrated annually and acknowledged by all known registries.
Included in Lloyd’s lists
 Sole representative of CASAR wire ropes in Greece.
 Sole representative of VEROPE wire ropes in Greece.
 Sole representative of GUNNEBO, lifting gear, chains and accessories.
 LLOYD’S REG FOR ANCHORING AND MOORING EQUIPMENT
 LLOYD’S REG FOR APPROVED TESTING MACHINE
 LLOYD’S REG FOR STEEL WIRE ROPES
 LLOYD’S REG TYPE OF APPROVAL FOR UHMPE FIBRE ROPES
 LLOYD’S REG TYPE OF APPROVAL FOR MIXED FIBRE ROPES
 LLOYD’S REG TYPE OF APPROVAL FOR NYLON FIBRE ROPES
 LLOYD’S REG TYPE OF APPROVAL FOR POLYESTER FIBRE ROPES

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SYNTHETIC FIBER MOORING ROPES - 8, 12 & 24 STRAND

D.KORONAKIS S.A is among the few top worldwide manufactures for the
construction of SYNTHETIC FIBER MOORING ROPES known as:
“FLEX”, “FLOAT”, “STRONG”, “OCEANIC”, “SILVER FLOAT”, “KARAT MAXI PLUS”,
“NYLON”, “POLYESTER”, “POLYPROPYLENE”

Our company has been engaged and built the “KNOW HOW” for the
construction of these ropes after great studies, experiments, investigations and
various tests performed. Ensuring this way an extremely increased safe and
economical solution and a great longevity using always high and prime quality
certified materials.
The main advantage is that our ropes maintain their shape while under load and
provide a very high abrasion resistance. They are tailor made and offer a high
protection against various internal & external damages.
Designed with extremely high properties than other ropes in the market, they
offer increased strength, less abrasion, minimum backlash and perform
efficiently.
Furthermore, to the above additional protection, long performance is obtained
by using our Chafe or Kapa Sleeve protectors.

Our production process is fully complying with International standards and is in


accordance with OCIMF recommendations and mentioned ISO standards.

End users - Port Captains, officers and crew –are always welcome to our factory
to follow up the production and tests, discuss with our technical personnel and
take recommendations and explanations for any queries that they may have.

These ropes are produced and tested in accordance ISO 2307


and ISO 9554.

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INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

Initial preparation:
To avoid chaffing damages all contact surfaces on winch drums, stand rollers
and roller fairleads, universal fairleads and/or Panama chocks, should regularly
be inspected and be free of any rust scale, grooving or cuts.
Smooth and clean surfaces should be maintained with free chafe points. Where
possible should be highly polished to at least RA 10 standard. This in practice
may be difficult to be achieved or maintained unless stainless steel is used. In
any case the use of chafe and/or Kapa sleeve protectors along with a Kapa
lubricant for the protection of the ropes against the rollers and chocks is
recommended.
Even if chocks are new, it is still recommended to place a synthetic ”Kapa
Protection Sleeve” or “Chafe protection tube” to avoid the contact of the
mooring ropes with the metal surfaces and minimize abrasion and
temperature increase.

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Must assure that on Pedestal and or universal side Fairlead rollers there are
no rough edges, bolts or other obstacles that the synthetic rope can touch
on, and should be well maintained and kept free to rotate.

The whole surfaces of the winch must be absolutely smooth and if possible,
painted with strong epoxy paint. Conventional fiber mooring lines are larger
in diameter and generally experience slightly less impact from bending.
In all cases actual product specific values should derive through angled break
force and endurance testing (MEG4 Section 5.2.3)

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It is also recommended to have 4-6 turns on a single lay on the tension drum,
as conventional synthetic fiber ropes have better coefficient of friction. It is
not recommended and should be avoided to have more than one layer of
turns, limiting rope’s tendency to “burry” under tension, while any additional
layer weakens the brake holding capacity of the winch (about 7%-10% for
each layer).

To avoid chafing in the transfer section between the storage and tension
drum, it is very important to pay attention to the fairing of the edge.

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Packing, Identification & Unpacking:
Every single coil of rope is dispatched from our premises properly packed for
sea or road transportation. All ropes are carefully placed on wooden or
plastic pallets are always covered with plastic sheet, wrapped to maintain
coil’s shape, free of any kind of damages, labelled with rope’s main
characteristics.

Each Coil has its own metallic ID tag which should remain intact through the
rope’s life. It is used to indicate the onboard working position, as well as any
reference kept to the booklet of “record keeping” for visual inspection
results, number and time of operations, repairs made by the crew or
manufacturer, any destructive test by manufacturer.
Upon the receipt of ropes, ensure that all are received intact without any
transportation damage(s), and if any, you should immediately report it to
your company. Depending on the damage, your company along with the
manufacturer, will evaluate the rope’s condition and decide whether the
rope(s) can be used, be repaired by crew or be sent back in our factory for
examination and proper repairs.
Carefully unpack them near the winches, place each coil on the turntable,
then start uncoiling the rope from the external layer to avoid twisting (never
from the internal layers).

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Secure the eye to the storage drum with extreme attention to avoid any
damages if “U bolt(s)” are used. Alternatively you can use a pig tail (weak
link) of a common use rope with half diameter to the mooring line and
secure it to the “U-Bolt”. In case of emergency where the vessel has to let go
the whole mooring line, you can cut this pig tail without damaging the line.
Remember that after years this eye will be the new working eye when rope
is turned end for end.

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During storage to the drum, please ensure that the rope is under a specific
constant tension of approx. 40-60 kgs in order to avoid burying/diving into
the previous lower layer.
During storing process to the storage drum, make a “cross winding” with 2
crossing layers of 1 or 2 wraps starting from left to right, and back right to
left. One cross winding at the storage drum to be made to the last lays,
before pass the rope to the tension drum.

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OPERATION & HANDLING OF SYNTHETIC FIBER ROPES
The end user should take into consideration following concurrently with
mentioned in INSTALLATION section.
Line design break force (LDBF) is referred to spliced ropes (as per MEG4
recommendations) and mostly has a positive allowance.
Synthetic ropes are easy to handle and are expected to have a long service
lifetime, provided that are used with certain precaution that minimizes the
damages and at the same time operate under standard environmental working
conditions
Synthetic fiber ropes may be connected to tails with a proper ‘cow hitch’ as
indicated below.

Correct way Wrong way

Ensure that the rope remains straight when under load, same when collecting
the rope to storage and tension drums. Twists reduce the strength and damage
the fibers and strands construction.
Ensure that you are using the ‘chafe protector’ or ‘kapa sleeve’ for the ropes
passing through your vessel’s chocks or stand rollers and side fairlead rollers.
Pay an extreme caution to spring lines and ensure that they are not touching
the side shell and the rope’s angle at the chock is not very large. Change of the
shore bollard if this is permitted and accepted for your mooring arrangement.
When re-directing a mooring rope which has to pass from a stand roller, ensure
the roller is freely turn, the groove of working surface is clean and smooth with
proper dimensions(usually groove diameter should be 10%-15% larger than

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rope’s diameter), and only one rope is passing through the roller, never two
ropes of same or opposite direction.
It is recommended that after usage of the rope in dirty environment conditions
and before storage to the drum, to clean it with fresh water.
Mooring team should always remember that they are working in an area where
dangerous situation may occur, if they are in line with ropes under excessive
tension and the line or tail will break.
Snap back zones indicate possible dangerous areas after a rope’s failure, but
they are not limited. The movement of a parted rope it is not predictable
especially for the outboard side.
Inspection of the ropes after each mooring operation is compulsory. Any kind of
possible external-internal damages, any local reduction or increase of rope’s
diameter, deformation, stiffness, or twists should be recorded into your vessels
“RECORD KEEPING” booklet for future reference to each rope’s life
performance.
“Record keeping” booklet will guide us whether a rope will be fit for further use
or will be rejected if repairs are not possible or costly.
Working hours should be kept for all mooring ropes. Each rope should be
identified by its mooring position and metal ID tag.
Splices should always be inspected to ensure that remain intact and/or in
acceptable condition free of any damages.
Avoid dragging the rope over rough surfaces (antislipping deck area), but in any
case dragging will result the rope to develop initially a fur which is normal.
While berthed please ensure that all your mooring lines are properly tensioned
to get the same strain and load. Some ropes fast to quay side bollards in a long
distance, usually have a small sag, do not confuse it as a slack rope.
If slack rope(s) are observed, tension must be applied in order to prevent the
vibration that might be developed in the rope. Slack may cause internal yarn on
yarn fatigue that results to the premature loss of strength, temperature
increase and generally harm the rope’s condition.

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GLOSSARY AND KNOWN FAILURES FOR MOORING ROPES
(Few extracts are taken from OCIMF and other bibliography)

Abrasion:
Abrasion is a very common failure of synthetic ropes wear, which pending the severity
adversely affect the rope’s service life.
External abrasion, is the wear to the rope caused by the contact with sharp surfaces and
edges, contact with non-properly maintained surfaces of rollers, fairlead rollers and chocks,
contact with winch drum side and separating flanges, contact with rough surfaces on a
rusty deck and cargo remnants/grit etc.
In addition tension angle sliding of the rope against to certain surfaces is caused by
repeated use of the same certain length of the rope against to the chocks, rollers, winch
drum sections, bitts.
External abrasion is eliminated by using of Protection with synthetic sleeves and chafe
guards.
When a synthetic fiber rope initially is put under service, outer filaments have a furry
appearance. This is quite normal and should not be confused with the external abrasion.
This furry surface is a protection for the underlined fibers.
Internal abrasion is referred as the wear to the strands/fibers/yarns caused when rope is
subject to many and continuous bending and/or to cyclic tension.
Both External and Internal abrasion should be carefully evaluated, as the rope is losing
strength proportionally. In addition, for each rope, abrasion observations should be
recorded for further future reference, before a decision is taken to repair or retire the rope.
Breaking strength:
It is the tensile strength (force) required to break the rope under certain test procedures.
a) Actual breaking strength: This strength is the one obtained when the rope is under
a destructive test.
b) Theoretical breaking strength: This is the maximum stress that the rope can get,
based on manufacturer’s product properties with certain formula calculations.
c) Line design breaking force: LDBF is the minimum braking force of a new-dry
mooring line. It refers to spliced ropes. (LDBF>/= 100-105% of ship’s design MBL)
MBL refers to mooring fittings only.
d) Working load limit: WLL for a mooring line is the maximum load that the line is
subject to work in operational service, calculated from the standard environmental
criteria.

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Critical temperature:
Is the temperature at which the properties of a fibre begin to deteriorate.
Cyclic loading:
Repeated loading of rope or fibre in service, or on a test machine.
Diameter nominal:
The approximate diameter of the rope as declared by the manufacturer for reference
purposes.
Dynamic load:
Any rapidly applied force that increases significantly the load on a rope above the normal
static load.
Elongation:
The ratio of the rope’s extension under an applied load to its length prior to the application
of the load. It is expressed as a percentage.
Elastic elongation: The temporary change in length of a fibre or yarn under tension which is
reversed when the tension is removed.
Elasticity: the elastic (non-permanent) elongation of a unit length of an element caused by
a unit load.
End-for-end:
The process of rotating a rope on its stowage drum so that the working section is changed.
This involves removing the rope from the drum and re-stowing it with the previous end
next to the drum.
Extension:
The deformation (change in length) of a rope when a load is applied.
Laid ropes:
Ropes made by twisting of three or more strands together with the twist direction opposite
than of the strands.
Plaited ropes:
A rope structure consisting of two pairs of strands twisted to the right and two pairs of
strands twisted to the left, braided together in such a way that pairs of strands of opposite
twist alternatively overlay one on another.

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Pretension:
Additional load applied to a mooring line by a powered winch over and above the one
required to remove sag from the main run of the line.
Size number:
A nominal designation of a rope size, determined from the approximate circumference
measured in inches.
Tail:
A short length of synthetic rope attached to the end of a mooring line to provide increased
elasticity, absorb the dynamic loads and ease the handling.
Twist:
A rotation induced in the rope during service.

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ROPE INSPECTION – ROPE REJECTION CRITERIA

Before a rope is used, the entire length, including eye splices, should be inspected for the
following:
c1) External-Internal wear: When a rope is first put into service the outer filaments will take
on a slightly furry appearance. This is a normal occurrence as the surface filaments break due
to abrasion in service. This surface abrasion needs to be examined visually regularly to ensure
what is a normal occurrence is not mistaken for more serious damage being caused to the
rope by other means. Internal abrasion is caused by the yarns that rubbing against one
another, or by the ingress of grit or any kind of solid dirt into the braid of the rope.
The effect of abrasion on the residual strength of the rope is difficult to be assessed visually.
The below figures can help for a visual estimation.

Except of the visual examination a maximum material loss of 20% through abrasion is critical
for removal the rope from use.
If this material loss appears only to a certain length of the rope, another solution is to cut this
part of the rope and splice the two rope parts. The cut to be made by the crew if possible,
otherwise by the manufacturer. If this is not possible the rope has to be retired.

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c2) Inconsistent diameter: Visually detected as localized reduction in diameter and localized
increases of diameter as in the figure below. Probably have been caused by shock loadings
and/or cut yarns inside the rope. Normally this part of the rope has to be removed and splice
the two rope. The cut to be made by the crew if possible, otherwise by the manufacturer. If
this is not possible the rope has to be retired.

c3) Glazed-Compressed areas: Normally occurs on bend surfaces (like winch drums) when
the rope is under radial load. These areas are quite stiffer than usual but by flexing the rope
reverts to its normal stiffness.
Usually no other corrective action needs to be taken.

SAME ROPE AFTER FLEXING-NO PERMANENT DAMAGE

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c4) Heat fusion-Melted yarns: Visible detected as charred and melted yarns. Normally in
these areas the rope is very stiff and cannot revert by flexing. This may be caused when rope
sustained to extremely high load on to a bending surface or has been exposed to excessive
heat. Normally this part of the rope has to be removed and splice the two rope parts. The cut
to be made by the crew if possible, otherwise by the manufacture. If this is not possible the
rope has to be retired.

c5) Cut strands: It may be caused by operating the rope over sharp edges and surfaces, more
rarely from wear caused by extreme abrasion during operation. If 2 or more strands are cut
this part of the rope has to be removed and splice the two rope parts. The cut to be made by
the crew if possible, otherwise by the manufacturer. If this is not possible the rope has to be
retired.

c6) Pulled yarns or strands: this may be caused during rope snagging somewhere to the
equipment during operation. If there is not any cut or damage it can revert through working
back the pulled yarns or strands into the rope. No other corrective action is needed.

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RECOMMENDED MAIN D/d RATIOS

Typical split drum winch

SPLIT DRUM WINCHES


Conventional fiber mooring lines are larger in diameter and generally experience slightly
less impact from bending.
In all cases actual product specific values should derive through angled break force and
endurance testing (MEG4 Section 5.2.3)

PEDESTAL– STAND ROLLER – CHOCKS – BITTS


Synthetic fiber ropes lose strength when are bent over a radius such as pedestal rollers,
universal side rollers or chocks, bitts etc.
Apart from the contact with the radius surfaces and expected abrasion, rope operating
under a bend will result in a distortion of the distribution of longitudinal and lateral loads,
which adversely affect rope’s strength at a certain period of time.

The loss in efficiency of the rope is given by the formula:

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Roller’s and chocks bend Angle:
Independently from the roller diameter and although synthetic fiber ropes ropes have very
good bending properties , attention should be paid when re-directing the rope from
tension drum through the pedestal roller to other mooring fitting as side universal side
rollers, fairleads, or chocks. Especially when angles become very large there is a
considerable loss of rope’s breaking strength and fatigue, but due to vessel’s mooring
arrangement in some cases this is unavoidable.

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Fleet angle:
Tension drums should be properly aligned to pedestal rollers or to universal side rollers,
fairleads and or chocks, in order to maintain the fleet angle to the best working limits.
OCIMF recommends that the Fleet angle is limited a°<= 1.5°
Very Small fleet angles result to the rope’s over wrapping (over-laying) on the tension
drum.
Greater fleet angles result to the rub of the rope against the surface of separation or side
drum flanges, resulting to considerable abrasion with possible cut of strands.
The distance (L) between the drum center line to the vertex point (a) should be at least:
19 x drum width (W)

ao (A)
(W) ao

(L)

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8 STRAND SYNTHETING MOORING ROPE
SPLICING PROCEDURE

The 8-strand braided construction consists of four (4) S-Twist strands and four
(4) Z-Twist strands are arranged so that the S-Twist strands (individually or on
pairs) alternate with Z-twist strands (individually or on pairs).
3 full lay lengths or 6 consecutive braid crowns are required for the splice. Form
the eye and seize the end of the rope to the main body on the 7th braid crown.
Tape each individual strand at the end in order to avoid untwisting. It is better
to put different colors to each twist direction, f.e brown on S twist strands and
red on Z twist strands. Then unlay the strands up to the point where the eye is
formed and where the seizing is placed.

Splicing steps
1. Tuck two S-lay strands under two Z-lay strands of the body of the splice

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2. Tuck the first Z-lay strand under the two preceding Z-lay strands of the body.
Tuck the second Z-lay strand only under the first Z-lay strand.

3. Tuck the third S-lay strand under the first S-lay strand of the body and tuck
the 4th S-lay strand under the next S-lay strand of the body.

4. The third Z-lay strand is tucked under the outer Z-lay strand of the body and
the fourth Z-lay strand is tucked under the inner Z-lay strand of the body.

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5. We are back to the first two S-lay strands. Tuck the first S-lay strand under
the outer S-lay strand of the body and tuck the second S-lay strand under the
inner S-lay strand of the body.

6. All strands have now been tucked into the right position. Make sure that S-lay
strands are tucked under S-lay strands of the body and that Z-lay strands are
tucked under the Z-lay strands of the body.

7. Continue with tucking two S-lay strands under S-lay strands and two Z-lay
strands under Z-lay strands of the body.

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8. Turn the rope and continue by tucking two S under S and two Z under Z.

9. Continue until all strands are tucked 5 times

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10. To finalize: Tuck the first S-lay strand under first S-lay strand of the body
and the second S-lay strand under the second S-lay strand of the body.

11. Do the same with the first two Z-lay strands.

12. Turn the rope and repeat the steps with the remaining strands.

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13. Seize the out sticking strands in pairs and cut of the over length.

The Splice Is Now Complete

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12 & 24 STRAND SYNTHETING MOORING ROPE
SPLICING PROCEDURE
These ropes consist of 2x6 S-twist strands and 2x6 Z-twist strands arranged in a
way that the S-twist pairs of strands alternate with Z-twist strands covering 1 or
more laid or braided cores.
Step 1. From the end of the rope we count 15 tucks of Z or S pairs of strands.
This is mark a, and we tightly put tape around the rope to mark a (photos 1&2).

Photo 1
Photo 2
Step 2. Measure eye size and mark point b opposite to point a. Cut the tape to
the rope end and start securing with red tape the 6-z pairs of strands and blue
tape the 6-s pairs of strands (photos 3,4,5,6).

Photo 3 Photo 4

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Photo 5 Photo 6

Step 3. Secure tightly with tape the rope behind the marks a,b. Before this
securing you have to be sure that the rope from the cutting edge to mark b has
to be not twisted to its axis.
Then pull out of the rope end the 1st z-pair just after the mark a and bury it
under the 1st &
2nd s-twist pairs just after the mark b, following the route of the below z-pair.
Pay attention: each strand pair must pass through in parallel, with no twist
between them (photos 7,8,9).

Photo 7 Photo 8

Photo 9

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Continue burying the other five z-twist pairs 1 by 1 in the same way (photos
10,11,12).

Photo 10 Photo 11

Photo 12

Step 4 . Continue burying the z twist pairs one more time under the s-twist
pairs, following the route of the z-twist pair underneath (photos
13,14,15,16,17).

Photo 13 Photo 14

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Photo 15 Photo 16

Photo 17

Step 5. Pull the s-twist pair that passes between the 2nd and 3rd z-twists pairs
and bury it underneath the 2 z-twist pairs just after mark b. Continue burying
one by one the next 2 spairs (photos 18,19,20,21).

Photo 18 Photo 19

Photo 20 Photo 21

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Step 6. Pull slightly the core of the rope and cut it using a sharp knife. Continue
burying the other 3 s-twist pairs (photos 22,23,24).

Photo 22 Photo 23

Photo 24

Step 7. Continue burying the s-twist pairs one more time under the z-twist pairs,
following the route of the s-twist pair below (photos 25,26,27,28).

Photo 25 Photo 26

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Photo 27 Photo 28

Step 8. Continue burying the s twist pairs 2 more times under the z-twist pairs,
following the route of the s-twist pair underneath. Now the tucking of the s-
strands is finished (photos 29,30,31,32).

Photo 29 Photo 30

Photo 31 Photo 32

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Step 9. Continue burying the z twist pairs 2 more times under the s-twist pairs,
following the route of the z-twist pair underneath (photos 33,34,35,36,37).

Photo 33 ` Photo 34

Photo 35 Photo 36

Photo 37

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Step 10. The tucking of all the strands is finished. Pull smoothly each pair of
strand to stabilize the tuckings of the splice. Then tape tightly 3 pairs of strands
together (photo 39), and cut the remains with a sharp knife or with an electrical
knife to melt and stick the yarn ends together.

Photo 38 Photo 39

Now the splice is ready for use (photo 40).

Photo 40

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EXAMINATION CRITERIA FOR REPAIRS OR RETIREMENT
Stage Condition Remarks Actions to be taken

4 New rope Ensure upon unpacking that the rope is free of


any transportation damages and dirt, install it
on the storage drum as per the
manufacturer’s standard guidelines with great
caution to the applied force during storage.
Make sure that the rope is free of any twists
or turns like when the rope left the factory.

Ensure that ID tags are attached and all


relevant documentation / certification is
received onboard.

3 First use After a few mooring operations, Rope diameter after a few operations should
the rope’s diameter will be be recorded as a baseline for future
slightly decreased due to yarns measurements.
and strands proper alignment,
especially within the working In case any oil or grease noted, wash in mild
length. This diameter should be detergent.
recorded to enable future In case heavy surface fuzz is noted, remove
comparison measurements. the source of the abrasion. If needed, proceed
A fur or fuzz may be seen as a to Stage 2.
result of dragging the rope over
rough surfaces. This is normal
and does not affect the rope’s
strength. It actually protects the
external jacket strands from
early abrasion.

2 External damages Usually the first damages to the Abrasion should be evaluated to ensure that it
rope consist of: is only to the outer surface. As long as no
other damages are observed, the rope still
-Light to moderate abrasion
maintains its original strength.
-Melting with fused fibers due If outer strands are cut, patronizing should be
to rope slippage on the drum or
made.
chocks and high temperatures
created during slippage or due If any reduction in diameter is noticed, then a
to overloading at bend surfaces
measurement should be made to evaluate the
degree of reduction and to decide whether
this part of the rope can remain in service or
needs to be properly spliced by the
manufacturer. If necessary, turn the rope end-
for-end to continue mooring operations.

Ask manufacturer’s or expert’s advice before


the rope will be repaired/re-spliced.

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1 Severe rope This includes very heavy A rope should be considered significantly
damage abrasion, visible internal degraded if:
damaged yarns, or a great
number of twist/turns. -More than four consecutive outer strands are
pulled (and cannot be reincorporated into the
rope)

-More than three outer strands are cut

-There are multiple cut yarns or filaments


within distance of one pitch length

Depending on the extend of the damages:

-you can cut the damaged part and properly


re-splice

-the rope can be cut turned end-for-end to


continue mooring operations

-if cannot be repaired by crew or


manufacturer, the rope should be
downgraded.

For any further information, please contact our company


D. Koronakis SA
T: +30 210 4060 600
E: [email protected]

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