Page 32: of Marine News Magazine (February 2019)

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MOORING SAFETY

U.S. Coast Guard Looks beyond Mooring Lines

Strength, Safety and Sustainability are at the heart of this Homeland Security stakeholder’s mission set.

By Brian Hostetter or over 30 years, high performance fber rope manu- sion of lifelines together with boat preventer stays, lashing facturer Phillystran has worked with the U.S. Coast ropes, rigging lines, through to ‘fast’ ropes for Coast Guard

Guard to supply mooring and towing lines. As inno- Maritime Security Response Team helicopter deployment.

F vations in fber rope technology have enabled lighter and stronger ropes, the Coast Guard has not been slow to take

Improving With Every Change advantage of these and other developments.

A common thread, often discussed, is the rope industries’

In step with most maritime stakeholders, NAVSEA ap- ability to ‘fne tune’ rope materials to meet the challenging proved fber ropes are widely used by the U.S. Coast Guard. and rapidly changing requirements of the Coast Guard.

The advantages in certain maritime applications are obvi-

There is a continued push for lightweight materials that in- ous, as fber ropes are lighter and easier to handle than steel crease safety, are easier to handle to reduce labor hours and wire ropes and are just as strong, if not stronger. Applications are more suited to the changing demographic of Coast Guard range from routine mooring and towing lines to the provi- crew personnel. New materials for mooring and towing ropes

February 2019 32 MN