Valk wave winch control system

Background

The Valk Wave Winch Control System has been specifically designed for a winch manufacturer. What makes this winch unique is it's high speed of winding and releasing the wire up to 100 meters per minute while maintaining a constant pressure on the wire of up to 7 tons.

The pressure on the wire is constantly being monitored and referenced to the set pressure by the PLC system. When the set pressure is breached the wire will automatically run to prevent damage to the wire, the tugboat and the tanker itself.

This system is being used by tugboats mainly to control large LNG Tankers and can be switched rapidly from berthing to escort mode and vice versa.

Design

This a completely new design. In Canada the first boats have been equipped with this winch by Valk in 2008 /2009. And because this is new by Valk Engineering designed technology a lot of tests have been conducted.

The result is a system that will have to be mandatory implemented by many insurance companies to prevent a lot of accidents (and especially those with great environmental impact) because of the lose of control during bad weather conditions.