Seatrade Innovation Award for Lankhorst Ropes
Maritime industry publication Seatrade has named Lankhorst Ropes has won the Innovation in Ship Operations award at this years 25th Seatrade Awards held in London recently.
The award was for Tipto Winchline, which reduces the threat to crew from mooring rope snap back. This is the second time Lankhorst has received the ‘Innovation Award’, and the first time a company has won it in consecutive years.
A snapped mooring rope is a rare occurrence, but when it does happen the results can be devastating. Using its expertise in yarn production and rope construction, Lankhorst Ropes has developed the Tipto Winchline to provide a safer mooring rope.
Based on Lankhorst’s Tipto yarn, the seven strand rope features a Tipto overbraided jacket to protect the rope from wear and tear during handling. Importantly, the jacket fulfils a vital safety function. If the rope breaks due to excessive load, the braided cover acts as a net, capturing the two parted ends. The jacket absorbs the generated energy from the broken rope, and thus reduces the effects of snap back.
In 2012, Lankhorst Ropes received the Seatrade ‘Innovation in Ship Operations’ award for its A3 splice. With the trend towards fewer crew, the A3 splice is lighter, stronger and smaller than traditional splices, and marked a significant improvement in the ease of rope handling during mooring and towing.
