The regulations for Emergency Towing Arrangement are as per SOLAS Chapter II-1, Regulation 3.4. amended by MSC 256(84) on 01/JAN/2012

Emergency Towing Arrangement is compulsory for all tankers of 20,000 DWT and above

• It should be provided at both the forward and aft end of adequate strength taking into account the size & DWT of the ship.
  

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• Emergency Towing Arrangements should be able to work without any power supply and should be accessible to the towing ship without needing to come too close.
  

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• It should be ready for rapid deployment and at least one of the two should be pre-rigged.
  

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• Should be of sufficient strength, taking into account all the forces acting upon it.
  

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• The strength of the towing components should be as follows:

1. At least 1000 kN for tankers of 20,000-50,000 DWT.
2. At least 2000 kN for tankers of 50,000 DWT and above.
3. Sufficient strength at all towing angles from Centreline to 90° (Port & Stbd) and 30° vertically.

• The length of the towing pennant should be at least twice the lightest seagoing ballast freeboard at the fairlead + 50 mtrs.
  

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• Fairlead should be broad enough to allow the passing of the largest portion of the chafing gear, towline.
  

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• If a chafing chain is used, it should extend from the strong point to at least 3 meters beyond the fairlead to ensure that the towing pennant remains out of the fairlead during the operation.
  

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• The arrangement should be there for safe and effective use in darkness. This is achieved by installing small bulbs on the float line and buoy.

• Design & construction should be approved by the administration.

Deployment Time:

• AFT: Pre-rigged and capable of being deployed in a controlled manner in a harbour condition is not more than 15 minutes by one crew.
  

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• FWD: Should be capable of being deployed in harbour conditions in not more than 60 minutes by all crew members.

  

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Emergency Towing Booklet:

The ship shall be provided with ship-specific ETP. The emergency towing procedure shall include a drawing of the fwd and aft deck showing ETA, inventory of equipment onboard used for emergency towing, means & method of communication & sample procedures.

    1. Ship-specific data to be included:

• Ships Name
• Call sign
• IMO No.
• Anchor detail
• Cable & Chain detail
• Height of mooring deck
• Draft & displacement range

    2. Assembly & Rigging Diagram

    3. Location of strong point

    4.Equipment & strong point capacity & SWL.

    5. Organization of crew & task

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