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The Ultimate Actionable Guide of Anchoring a Ship

Written by Capt Rajeev Jassal on February 13, 2016

Anchoring is as frequent operation on board as loading and unloading a cargo.

But in spite of being a frequent operation, the number of incidents related to anchoring never seem to reduce.

That is when many minor incidents never come to light to a wider audience.

The truth is that even after being a routine operation, effective way of anchoring is not a child’s play.

Sure one can just somehow arrive at anchoring position and open the brake to anchor a ship. I am sure you would agree that it is
not an effective way of anchoring. Don’t you think so?

In this post, let us discuss a practical way of anchoring.

But before we do that, we need to discuss two things. First how an anchor holds the ship. And second what guarantees more
holding power of anchor.

1. How an anchor holds the ship

When an anchor is dropped, The crown of the anchor is the first to hit the sea bottom. As the ship moves back, the flukes take its
position and embed itself into the seabed.

It does not matter from what height the anchor is dropped, the crown will alway hit the bottom first. The flukes will only dig into
the seabed once the ship moves aft and flukes are facing downwards into the sea bottom.
As the ship moves back, the fluke takes its position and embed itself into the seabed.

The opposite happens when we pick up the anchor. When the chain is all picked up, the flukes face upwards and gets uprooted
from the bottom.

2. Holding Power of anchors

All other factors being common, there are three things that affect holding power of anchors. First is the construction of
anchor, second nature of seabed and third the scope of the cable.

Holding power due to anchor construction

A ship’s Equipment number decides the weight of the anchor and length of the chain.
A ship’s Equipment number decides the weight of the anchor and length of the chain.

The fluke area determines the holding power of the anchor. International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) governs
the rules for anchors.

IACS enlist three types of anchors.

Normal holding power anchors,

high holding power anchors

Super high holding power anchors.

Because of the high and super high holding powers, these anchors can have a lesser weight than the normal anchors. This is
because the high holding design (Larger fluke area) compensate for the loss of holding power due to lesser weight.

This is because the high holding design (Larger fluke area) compensate for the loss of holding power due to lesser weight.
Even though anchor weight has nothing to do with holding power per se, it contributes to some extent in holding a ship in its
position.

More weight of the anchor would need more force to push the ship from its position. For this reason, anchor weight is more often
used as a function of holding power.

Holding power due to nature of Seabed

Another factor that affects the holding power of the anchors is nature of seabed.

Sand is considered to be the strongest holding ground. Soft mud is the least holding ground. This is because of obvious reasons.

Anchor embedded into soft mud would leave the bottom easily compared to the more harder surface like sand. Mariners must
consider nature of seabed to determine the possibility of dragging of the anchor.

Holding power due to scope of the anchor cable

The correct scope is essential for safe anchoring and better holding of the anchor. The scope is the ratio of the depth of the
water to the length of the cable deployed.

More the scope, better an anchor will hold the ship. The idea of having more scope is that the angle of chain with respect to sea
bottom should be minimum.
bottom should be minimum.

More the angle, lesser the holding power. OCIMF has published a graphical relation between this angle and holding power of
anchor.

As a thumb rule, Scope of 6 is advisable for anchoring. That is when anchoring into a depth of 20 meters, we should pay at least
120 meters of cable. When anchoring in areas of strong wind or current, we should have a scope of more than 6, up to 10
sometimes.

There are two situations where the scope of 6 or more may not be always possible.

In congested anchorages like in Singapore and

in deep water anchorages like Fujairah.

In congested anchorages, this is due to insufficient sea room and In deep water anchorage due to insufficient cable length. In
calm weather, the lesser scope in these areas should not be a problem.

But if you expect wind force to increase, increased possibility of anchor dragging should be part of the risk assessment.
Now that we have discussed few of aspects of anchoring, Let’sLets anchor a ship.

3. Preparing for Anchoring

Preparing the vessel for anchoring can start days before arrival. This is when a Master checks the charts for marked anchorage
areas days before arrival.

Anchorage area for the vessel could also be suggested in the agent’s pre-arrival message. In any case, the Anchorage area
must be physically checked in the chart to ensure that

it is designated for the type of ship,

the depths complies with the UKC requirement of the company

depths are less than the maximum depth ship can anchor

is clear of any cables, pipeline, wrecks or other obstructions. and

the nature of seabed is appropriate for anchoring

When checking the charts for underwater obstructions, attention should be paid to the chart symbol ‘#’.

This symbol means there is a foul ground and shall be avoided for anchoring. I am particularly mentioning this chart symbol
because you may not miss a wreck but it is easier to miss this.
It is important to be aware of the ship’s windlass lifting capacity. In any case, most of the ship’s windlass are able to lift the weight
of the anchor and about 3 shackles.

Vessels could easily anchor in depths of about 80 meters. If anchoring in depths more than that, you might need to first check
the windlass capacity for the particular ship.

4. Anchor stations

Anchor stations should be ready forward well in advance. The anchor party should make the inspection of the anchor windlass.

They should also ensure that the drive (Hydraulic power packs or electric power) is running. The lashing of both the anchors
should be removed even if it is pre-decided about which anchor will be used.

It is a good practice to brief anchor party well in advance of some information about anchoring such as

the depth of water at the anchoring position

Which anchor to use

Anchoring method (Let go or walk back)

the number of shackles the vessel will be brought up to.

5. Approaching the anchorage position

The most critical factor while approaching anchoring position is the speed of the vessel. Engines must be ready and tested well
in advance and the speed of the vessel should be under control.

If Master feels the ship’s speed is much more than what it should be, he should exercise zig-zag maneuver to reduce the speed.

Zig-zag maneuver (also called rudder cycling) is the most effective way to reduce the ship’s speed over a shorter distance. While
doing rudder cycling,

While doing rudder cycling, the master must give due consideration to the nearby ships and not run over other ships in the
vicinity.

Apart from speed, the direction from which to approach the anchoring position is important. The best approach heading is of
heading into the wind and tide. The heading of similar sized anchored vessels can give

The best approach heading is of heading into the wind and tide. The heading of similar sized anchored vessels can give a quite
accurate sense of the approach heading. If the traffic density, water

If the traffic density, water depth, and sea room permits, it is better to bring the vessel to this heading at least 1 mile from the
anchoring position.
Once on this heading, engine movements should ensure that vessel’s speed is less than 2 knots about half a mile from the
anchoring position.

These are just referencing but useful figures. You should consider vessel’s maneuvering characteristics, such as stopping
distances to amend these figures. Once the vessel is around

Once the vessel is around half a mile from the anchoring position, we can give stern movement. This is to ensure that vessel is
completely stopped at the anchoring position and there is no headway in the forward direction.

During Stern movement, the vessel would cant to starboard side (for right hand fixed pitch propellers).

If we are using the port anchor, this is good as this would ensure the cable is clear of the vessel and will not lead across the bow.

But if starboard anchor is used, there is a chance of anchor chain going under the bow or crossing the bow. In this case, before
we give stern movement, vessel’s rudder is put to hard port to get some port swing.

The stern movement would check the port swing and the cable going under the bow can be avoided.

Make sure to bring the rudder to midship during Stern movement. Apart from lateral swing, stern movement of the vessel
itself ensures that the cable is clear of vessel’s hull.

However, in all cases, we must ensure that movement of the vessel does not put excessive strain on the windlass. We will discuss
this in the next section.

6. Anchoring Methods

As we know, there are two ways an anchor can be dropped to the seabed.

By letting go

by walking back.
Each of these ways has its advantages. And in most of the cases, it is up to the discretion of master how he wants to anchor.

But there are certain conditions in which there are no options but to choose a particular method.

Letting go an anchor
Would you agree that anchoring by letting go is easier of the two methods? It is the most used method of anchoring too.

In this method, we open the windlass brake to let the anchor go under gravity.

Before opening the brake, we must consider the height from which we plan to drop the anchor.

If we don’t, we may damage the anchor. Depending upon the height, the damage may not be visible in the same operation but
will be visible in the longer run.

There is another obvious risk of dropping the anchor from a height. The anchor under its weight will continue to gain momentum
until it touches bottom. This momentum will increase

The anchor under its weight will continue to gain momentum until it touches bottom. This momentum will increase

More the height, more momentum the anchor will gain. This momentum may increase to a point where windlass break would not
be able to hold it.

The anchor’s momentum will only stop when the anchor along with entire chain is in the bottom after it has been uprooted from
the bitter end.

Watch this.

What is the referencing height then?

What is the referencing height then?

As a thumb rule, you should never allow the anchor to drop from a height of 20 meters. That is, one must lower anchor to a level
when the distance between the bottom and the anchor is not more than 20 meters.

But that is a maximum figure. One must lower the anchor to as close to the bottom as possible before it is let go.

But if you aim for lowering the anchor to say one meter above the seabed, you may end up touching the anchor to seabed while
the ship still has some speed.

That is not good.

So here is another rule of thumb. We should aim for lowering the anchor to around half shackle from the bottom before we let go.

To summarize, here is how we should anchor the ship by letting go

Approach the anchor position heading into wind and tide with speed around 2 knots at 0.5NM from the position.

Lower the anchor with gear to around half shackle off the bottom and then hold the anchor on brake

Give Stern movement to stop the vessel over the ground once the vessel is in the anchoring position. if using starboard
anchor, check the starboard swing (for Right hand fixed pitch propellers) because of Stern movement.

When in position, drop the anchor by opening the brake

maintain around 0.5 knots stern speed to allow the cable not to pile up.

Hold the break once required cable length is paid out.

Anchoring by walking back

Walking back means lowering the anchor with gear.

The principle difference between walk back and let go methods is that in the walk back we lower the anchor under power.

The advantage of this method is that cable would not run on its own. So there is no risk of damaging the anchor or windlass by
dropping from a height.

But there is another risk involved with this method. I earlier said that in the “let go” method we should maintain around 0.5 knots
astern speed while we are paying the anchor chain.

But even if we exceed this speed to 1.0 knots, only the anchor will pay off. There will not be any load on the windlass. Even when
the brake is on, and the chain stresses, windlass brake will be the first thing to render.

But that is not the case with walk back method. In walk back method, since we are lowering the anchor with windlass in gear,
excessive speed would surely damage the windlass.

We must not exceed the stern speed to more than the design speed of the windlass.
Typically the design speed of windlass is 9 meters/minute. That is 540 meters/hour (0.3 knots). So we must not exceed the stern
speed to more than 0.3 knots while walking back the anchor.

7. Anchor brought up

Once we have lowered the required anchor length, and we have disengaged the gear (in the case of the walk back), we then
wait for the anchor to be brought up.

The anchor is brought up when it leads to the long stay and then gradually comes back to short to medium stay.

Once brought up, there is an important thing that we need to do. Put the bar (Bow stopper) on and rest the anchor chain on it.

This is because the load generated by the vessel’s movement during its stay at anchor should be borne by the bow stopper
which has higher capacity than the windlass system.

There is a disadvantage though. In heavy weather, there are chances that stopper may jam or deform. In this case, if for some
reason vessel needs to let go the cable in the emergency, it would be difficult.

The only solution to it is that the Master must get underway before putting any component of anchoring at the risk of damage.
Most of the companies have instructions to the masters to leave the anchorage if wind force is more than force 6. There have
been

Most of the companies have instructions to the masters to leave the anchorage if wind force is more than force 6. There have
been

There have been incidents of total constructive loss due to master’s decision to stay at Anchorage in spite of adverse weather
warnings.

Conclusion

Anchoring is a routine job. Number of incidents during anchoring or while at anchor suggest that we might not have yet
mastered the art of anchoring a ship effectively.

Knowing the correct anchoring procedures and their limitations are one of the best ways to avoid anchoring related fatalities and
damages.

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About Capt Rajeev Jassal

Capt. Rajeev Jassal has sailed for over 19 years mainly on crude oil, product and chemical tankers. He holds MBA in
shipping & Logistics degree from London. He has done extensive research on quantitatively measuring Safety culture
onboard and safety climate ashore which he believes is the most important element for safer shipping.

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30 Comments

karthick
Jun 7, 2016

Dear sir, very very useful . thank u soo much. we need something about what is squat , squat calculation, how to calculate ukc
available etc.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Jun 8, 2016

Glad you found it useful Karthick.. I will definitely right on squat as this is another important topic.
 Reply

Rs
Gill
Jul 7, 2016

I also believe that the weight should be on the chain stopper as it is designed to withstand much more than brakes. (Chain
Stopper (Guillotine) = 80pct of Chain MBL Brake band = 45pct of Chain MBL). Plus I have witnessed, leaving a gap results in a
high probability of deformation in the chain stopper as the slip distance is much higher (greater momentum) as compared to the
cable snugly resting against the stopper in case the cable runs out under excessive load. The same is also recommended
method for securing the cable, in the concerned publication.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Jul 7, 2016

That is a good point made there. While the OCIMF publication recommend having the chain rest on the stopper it does
not however say that other way is incorrect. It compares and contrasts between two methods. But as I said I also prefers
it to be resting on the chain stopper. Thanks for giving your valuable views on this.
Reply

Bob
Jul 30, 2016

Hi This is very good reading the only information on anchoring missing is which is best anchor to drop? Does it matter if either
Port anchor or Starboard anchor is dropped taking into account strong (ish) shifting winds and tides, I would of thought the only
reason for 2 anchors is to have a spare incase the first one was lost to the seabed etc, or is there another reason (or benefit) for
having both Port and Starboard anchors? I'm sure it will be a rule for ships over a certain tonnage or size to have 2 anchors for
safety reasons, I'm just curious of the benefits in bad weather (if there is any)
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Jul 30, 2016

Hi Bob. In normal conditions It does not actually matters which anchor we use as finally vessel will be stemming the the
resultant of all the forces (Current, wind, tide). In case of anchoring in a river closer to the shore (like in Mississippi) , we
normally use off-shore anchor so that it can hold the ship from dragging into the shore..But we normally use anchors on
alternate basis so that we are sure that both can be used when required. Regarding 2 anchors, Yes it is class
requirement to have 2 anchors. Apart from having other anchor in case one cannot be used, we sometimes have to use
both the anchors specially in river where we cannot allow the ship to turn because of less space or strong currents. We
also use for turning the ship where tugs are not available and for that we may require anchor on a particular side. We
also use anchor for mooring in the river ports so that while casting off the ship, it is easier to bring the ship off the berth
which otherwise may be difficult because of current pushing the vessel onshore. There are plenty reasons to have one
anchor on each side.
Reply

ASHISH
ACHARYA
Aug 10, 2016

Dear Sir, I find information in your blogs very useful and very informative and to the point. However regarding anchoring
procedure could you please elaborate on best anchoring time when we have some tidal range. for example if 0700 is LW and
1300 is HW and tidal range is 6 meter, what would be the best time to anchor and reason behind it.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
 Rajeev Jassal
Aug 12, 2016

Ashish, if you are looking for an objective answer to this, there is none. A ship can be anchored any time. If I had the
privilege to choose the time I would choose just before the low water or just before the High water (Slack water time).
The Tidal current would be minimum and I can handle the ship without any concern of strong current. Also the forces
acting on the anchor while it is being brought up will be minimum. On the other hand if ship is going up river and need to
drop anchor, it is easier as I can use the current to my advantage as with against current, I can always use the engine
and not loose steering and still be able to maintain less ship speed. However I would avoid anchoring in time of strong
tidal current if ship is bound down river as then I need to turn in the strong current.
Reply

Captain Md sadikul
bari
Sep 20, 2016

Excellent
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Sep 20, 2016

Thank you Captain Bari..

Reply

shishir
kumar
Sep 23, 2016

this what i was looking since long..thnx

Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Sep 29, 2016

Glad it could be some help to you Shishir..

Reply

NICOLAS
Sep 29, 2016

A question about radar anchor function, I have always had a doubt about this. The radar antenna is situated over the bridge, so
the reference is the bridge itself. We drop the anchor and when the total amount of cable is laid out we activate the function, so
the bridge is making the swing circle... is it right ? otherwise if we activate the function at the very moment the anchor drops
there is an error...wait for your comments...thank you
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Sep 29, 2016

While calculating the turning circle of the ship at anchor, we take the length from the forecastle to the bridge into
account. If we add this distance, it takes into account this error you are referring to.
Reply

NICOLAS
 NICOLAS
Sep 29, 2016

exactly Sir, that's the point, the question is if you can input this data ( the lenght ) in the radar for this purpose.....thanks for
your dedication...
Reply

Capt.Ali Ozcan
Oct 4, 2016

Very useful blog...thanx capt

Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Oct 4, 2016

Thank you Capt Ali..

Reply

AJAY
Oct 19, 2016

sir i have a doubt some in rough weather anchor will drop or not
Reply

Adam
Nov 17, 2016

Dear sir, I've been tasked with putting a brief together to come to anchor. The scenario is! I have been away for 5 weeks
travelling from Pardip (India) and arriving into the outer anchorage at the Thames in London. I need to propose, plan and execute
this please can I have advice. Thank you
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Nov 18, 2016

Hi Adam, The anchoring part is detailed in this post. Arriving from a long voyage would add checking & testing the
anchoring equipments well before arrival for anchorage.
Reply

Adam
Nov 17, 2016

Please could someone look at my question I posted 6 hours ago. Kindest regards
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Nov 18, 2016

Let me know if there is any further question on this subject.

Reply

Adam
Nov 18, 2016
 Nov 18, 2016

Thank you sir that's much appreciated. What I was really after was the full sequence of events leading upto this event
happening, I need to put a proposal together and then execute the anchorage for my presentation. Would it be easier to
email me info your time I'm very greatful for.
Reply

john
Apr 18, 2017

sir i have a doubt, in a condition when currents and winds are not from same direction which anchor should i prefer to drop
Reply

Kelvin Brugge
May 9, 2017

I am teaching my class of students of the various anchoring methods - open moor, running moor, standing moor, Mediterranean
moor and Baltic Moor. The thing is I have never met anyone or spoken to anyone that has ever carried out the Baltic Moor. Is this
something you or any of your contemporaries have experience of or is it a leftover from a bygone era? In my own career I have
experienced the Mediterranean moor and open moor, but none of the others. Thank you for your interesting blog
Reply

Capt. GNS
Jun 6, 2017

Capt Rajeev, Thanx for this blog. A week b4 my familiarization for my promotion I search for a blog regarding anchoring and I
found yours. I read it over and over since yours was in detail. I was surprised when I went abroad for my familiarization because
my answer to their anchoring problem (which i read and copied from yours) was exactly the slides they are using... And I cannot
thank you enough... Pls continue to write blogs in our field because it is indeed a great help to us... Thanx. Capt. GNS
Reply

SANDEEP
RANA
Jul 8, 2017

Recently during promotion interview to Master, a friend of mine was given a situation of anchoring a loaded VLCC, in Singapore
anchorage while approaching from West. The current was setting at 3 kts, 330 degrees and wind experienced was force 4. What
could have been the best approach heading and which side anchor would have been best to be used considering the above
situation. Comments from experienced Captains would also be appreciated as i am having my interview and simulator test next
month.
Reply

Capt. Kayomarz
Patel
Jul 14, 2017

Excellent post. Very detailed.

Reply

Davy.Liao
Jul 14, 2017

Dear capt, A question about anchror operation to be fully automatic remote operation from bridge, I had a doubt about this
function. Does it mean no seaman working on the fore mooring deck when automatic anchor operation from bridge ? does the
anchor stopper need remote operation from bridge for meeting anchor fully automatic operation function? thanks.
Reply
 Reply

fengyuan
Jul 20, 2017

Great article about anchoring a ship and it is very useful to know it. Thanks for your sharing and waiting for your new excellent
articles.
Reply

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