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Pipeline Damage by Anchor Dragging

The vessel Young Lady dragged its anchor in rough weather conditions near Tees Port, damaging an underwater gas pipeline. An investigation found that the vessel waited too long to slip its anchor as weather deteriorated, and its windlass failed when the crew tried to weigh anchor with excessive strain on the cable from the dragging, allowing the anchor to snag and damage the pipeline. Corrective actions were taken by the vessel owner, port authority, and pipeline operator to prevent future such incidents.

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96 views19 pages

Pipeline Damage by Anchor Dragging

The vessel Young Lady dragged its anchor in rough weather conditions near Tees Port, damaging an underwater gas pipeline. An investigation found that the vessel waited too long to slip its anchor as weather deteriorated, and its windlass failed when the crew tried to weigh anchor with excessive strain on the cable from the dragging, allowing the anchor to snag and damage the pipeline. Corrective actions were taken by the vessel owner, port authority, and pipeline operator to prevent future such incidents.

Uploaded by

ravi ray
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Case Study of a Ship

damaging a Pipeline
(15 June 2017)

• Paljor Tshering (12TN143)


• Kartik Sood (12TN134)
• Rearranged by Cmde HA Gokhale
• On 23 June 2007, vessel ‘Young Lady’,
set sail from Rotterdam to Tees Port
for loading a cargo of crude oil.
• This was her 55th port visit.
• On 25 June 2007, the vessel ‘Young
Lady’ caused damage to an
underwater Gas Pipeline due to
dragging of her anchor. This Incident
took place in the Tees Bay, North Sea;
off the Eastern coast of England.
• The cause of this incident was
reported as a result of rough weather.
Site of Incident off
Tees Port
FACTUAL INFORMATION
PARTICULARS OF ‘YOUNG LADY’
• Registered Owner : Blenheim Shipping UK Ltd
• Port of Registry : Douglas, Isle of Man
• Flag : Isle of Man
• Type : Crude Oil Aframax Product Carrier
• Built : 2000
• Classification Society : Lloyd’s Register
• LOA : 239 m
• GRT : 56,204 tons
• DWT : 105,528 tons
• Service Speed : 15.2 knts
Particulars of the Pipeline
• The CATS (Central Area Transmission
System) pipeline was commissioned in
1993.
• Made of steel with a concrete coating
• Diameter : 36 inches
• Length : 251 Nm
• Serving 20% of UK’s gas requirement
• Maximum allowable gauge pressure : 179
bars
Events Before Anchoring (24 June 2007)
• At 1832 hrs, Young Lady was instructed by Tees Port Control on the VHF to
anchor on arrival nearby a spoil ground area keeping well clear of the nearby
pipelines.
• At 2145 hrs, the Master informed Tees Port Control and that he intended to
anchor about 4 cables south of his present position.
• Tees Port Control verified that position as ‘fine’ on confirmation request.
• At 2200 hrs, port anchor was let go in position 54°40.51’N 1°0.5’W with 7
shackles paid out.
• At 2201 hrs, Master reported the anchored position.
• He was instructed to stay on channels 14 and 16 for further information
Post Anchoring Events

• OOW and a lookout were kept on a watch for constant inspection of anchor cable.
• Weather conditions normal on 24th June night with a North Easterly 20 kts wind.
• Wind speed gradually increased next morning reaching 30 knots by afternoon.
• At 1300 on 25th June, a worried master ordered to pay out one more shackle of cable.
• Young Lady’s logbook recorded “due to the gale, anchor cable slacked 1shackle, now 8
shackles on deck’’.
• By 2000 hrs, wind went up to 40 kts, backing to North West and vessel started rolling and
pitching and yawing heavily in a swell
• Position was constantly monitored by DGPS Anchor Alarm and visual bearings.
• Positions were regularly plotted on chart to confirm that ship was not dragging.
.
Anchor Dragging

At 2200hrs, OOW doubted anchor dragging and he called up the Master

Upon reaching bridge, Master fixed the the ship and confirmed that ship was dragging anchor in Southerly direction.
Anchor Dragging
• At 2216 hrs, engine room was ordered to
keep engines ready. But by this time, Young
Lady had already dragged anchor by 8
cables at 3 knts.
• Anchor party of c/o and two seamen was
ordered to weigh port anchor.
• Chief officer reported excessive strain on
cable and heaving rate was 9 mins per
shackle as against normal rate of 3 mins per
shackle).
• At 2221 hrs, the Master reported anchor
dragging to the Tees Port Control via VHF.
• At 2223 hrs, Engines to ‘dead slow ahead’.
• The ship’s head was yawing between 068°
and 320° and ship was dragging southwards.
• At 2228 hrs, Engines put to “slow ahead”
• At 2233 hrs, rate of drift reduced.
• At 2235 hrs, engines stopped and ship began to drag.
• Engines were ordered Ahead to stop ships drift.
• By 2245 hrs, vessel dragged a distance of 1.3 Nm and was
just 2 cables north of the CATS Gas Pipeline.
• At 2250 hrs, Engines were ordered ‘half ahead’.

• Chief Officer reported excessive strain on cable and


decided to apply brakes and hold on.
• As brakes were being applied, port windlass suffered a
catastrophic failure of the hydraulic motor unit.
• Cable ran out immediately, the brake lining started to
smoke, sparks flew from the brake shoe as break lining
disintegrated and Hydraulic oil sprayed all over the
forecastle deck at 220 bar pressure.
Pipe Line Snagged
• Due to failure of brakes, cable ran
out to bitter end (12 shackles) and
the drift escalated southerly.

• At 2301 hrs, anchor crossed over the


pipeline and anchor flukes snagged
pipeline as shown on the right
(Upper is a Plan view and lower is a
side view of anchor snagging cable.)

• Next slide is the AIS view of ship


passing over the pipeline.
MV Young Lady Passing over CATS Pipeline
• At 2306 hrs, ship stopped dragging
in position 460 m south of the
pipeline.
• The master knew that Young Lady
had crossed over the pipeline and
snagged it.
• He informed the DPA (Designated
Person Ashore) about the situation.
• At 2311 hrs, when at yaw extremity
to the north-west, the anchor freed
itself from the pipeline and ship
recommenced dragging towards
south with port anchor held by its
bitter end.
Further Dragging

• At 2324 hrs, the Master informed Tees Port


Control about the windlass failure and that
the anchor was holding on by the bitter end.
• At 2328, vessel finally settled in position 54º
38.55’ N 000º 58.9’W.
• Master informed Tees Port Control about
his intention to slip anchor as he was afraid
that it might damage the pipeline again
while steaming North.
• At 0101 hrs on 26th, the Master reported
problems in removing the bitter end
securing pin due to excess load on cable.

• At 1330hrs on 26th, Port windlass hydraulic


motor was replaced, load on the bitter end
eased, pin removed and port anchor slipped.
Damages Sustained

YOUNG LADY :
• Failure of port hydraulic windlass brakes.
• Damage to the port windlass hydraulic motor unit
• Damage to motor casing.

CATS PIPELINE :
• The pipeline was lifted 1.5m, moved laterally at the point of contact by 6m in a
south- easterly direction. The concrete protection was removed at the point of
contact, and impact damage was identified on the steel pipe.
• However, no major leakages were reported.
Consequences of Pipeline Damage

• On 1st July the pipeline was shut down for repairs.


• A part of the UK faced gas crisis with the supply of gas dropping by about 20%
• On 7th July, primary damages were solved but production was not resumed
because internal problems were to be checked too.
• It was about 2 months later, that on September the pipeline was laid back and
production resumed.
What went Wrong?

Navigation
• The anchored position allowed by the port authorities was close to the pipeline area.
• Excessive delay in slipping port anchor which could have resulted in more serious damage to pipeline. 
 
Anchor-work
• For existing weather conditions, paying out of 7 shackles was inadequate.
• Master was not aware of the windlass’s design limitations due to unavailability of anchoring equipment data,.
• By 2000, wind had increased to 40 knots but engines started only at 2216 hrs when ship had already begun to drag.
• Inadequate and undecided use of engines to ease weight on cable.
• Attempting to weigh anchor in spite of excess load on cable which finally resulted in damage to the windlass.  
• 
Weather awareness
• In spite of the awareness about the deteriorating weather, the Master chose to remain at that anchorage.
• By next day morning, wind strength had increased from 20 to 30 knots, but little attention was paid to the
deteriorating wx.
Corrective Actions Taken TAKEN
BLENHEIM SHIPPING UK LTD :
• Provided training for its masters on the anchorage procedures
• Engaged an independent consultant to conduct a navigation audit within its fleet

CATS TERMINAL MANAGER :


• Reviewed the emergency criteria and emergency response plans for the CATS pipeline

Teesport harbour Authority :


Revised its policy whereby:-
• Advice to vessels not to anchor within 1nm of pipelines.
• Advice to vessels about the quality of the holding ground.
• Advice to vessels not to anchor under N or NE gale prevailing conditions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• www.google.com
• Report no. 3/2008 - Marine Accident Investigation Branch
• www.Wikipedia.com

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