Rapid tug co-ordination needed to rescue distressed ships in harbours

4th September 2025

Simon Tatham examines the legal issues encountered when ships break their moorings in harbours, prompting tugboat assistance

Broken mooring lines are a source of work for harbour tugs. Leaving aside the consideration of the potentially horrible consequences for ship crew or harbour staff caught in the way, the typical scenario is one brought about by high winds or unusual swells affecting a moored vessel, or both.

The elements are generally both unpredictable and can be overwhelming to unmoored ships. High-sided vessels may be blown off a berth but may also roll and surge.

I recall an arbitration early in my career where the respondent charterers’ expert was challenged by counsel for his opinion on how to ensure the vessel had remained safely alongside at the Port of Koper, Slovenia, in the face of katabatic winds that had suddenly descended on the port overnight. His answer was, “Sir, she would need to have been welded to the quay.”

The arbitrators were unimpressed and found, despite question marks over the ship’s mooring plan, preparedness and the condition of the mooring lines, that the charterers had ordered the vessel to an unsafe port and should be responsible for the ensuing damage claims.

This included three in-port collisions consequential upon the windward vessel breaking free.

In that case, and many others, the local tugs would have been relied upon to scurry alongside and, in the event, they arrived too late or were overwhelmed, to assist the casualty back to berth as soon as circumstances allowed.

Questions are typically asked whether the vessel should have vacated its berth in anticipation of heavy weather; what commercial pressures the ship’s master is under to keep the vessel at berth and working; and whether the harbour master should have intervened to clear potentially exposed quaysides.

Otherwise, the tugs will assist in holding the vessel as best they can pending amelioration in the weather, which brings to mind another case, this one in South America where exceptional weather had blown a vessel off the berth and across the small modern harbour into shallows opposite.

An associated tidal surge had increased the water depths in port by about 1 m which meant that the vessel could be pulled off the mud. Within hours the water levels would have returned to normal, and the vessel would be truly stuck aground.

A salvage claim was intimated and was very promptly settled by the hull underwriters, prepared to offer a reasonable cash sum to avoid the inconvenience of security, delays and proceedings: a satisfactory outcome for all concerned.

IMO has promulgated SOLAS Guidelines for Inspection and Maintenance of Mooring Equipment including lines, which came into force in January 2024 and is introducing procedures into a vessel’s Safety Management System (MSC.1/Circ 1620), aimed at reducing the incidence of such events.

There are publications such as the Oil Companies International Maritime Forum’s Mooring Equipment Guidelines (MEG4) as well as publications and a video produced by the International Group of P&I Clubs all designed to assist with the safe implementation of a ship’s Mooring Management Safety Plan.

The engagement of harbour tugs may be part of such a plan, standing by master’s orders ready to push when predicted conditions become a concern.

Often, in larger ports, urgent assistance may be provided, not just by the tugs contractually engaged by the ship’s agents but also by any tug in port available and ready to assist in an emergency, either with or without the master’s order or express consent.

This can become quite a headache, as one tug operator may be content to recover their harbour rate, another might seek to negotiate an enhanced rate, of perhaps two or three times the hourly rate, to reflect the extra effort made and benefit conferred, while a third might decide to press for a salvage claim.

It is usually best for tug owners to co-ordinate, co-operate and do so quickly if they want to help ensure a suitable outcome, with one ideally taking the lead.

This might involve prompt negotiations with the underwriters before the ship sails – usually in my experience over a weekend or bank holiday. However, with different outlooks prevailing between local and international managements this is not always achievable.

These are interesting cases with the devil in the detail, and the outcome is strongly affected by the quality of the evidence and the speed at which it has been collected, and the fast reaction of tugs in these situations.

A version of this article first appeared in the publication “Riveria Maritime” – Click here to read it.