User’s Manual Synthetic Ropes

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KATRADIS MARINE ROPES INDUSTRY S.A.

USER’S MANUAL Synthetic Ropes

11, Psaron Street, Piraeus 186 48, Greece

Tel.: +30 210 4060300 Fax: +30 210 4626268

Email: info@katradis.com

www.katradis.com

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General rules for handling and inspecting synthetic ropes

This manual is intended to accompany the Synthetic Mooring Ropes and provide information and guidance

regarding their proper usage, installation, safety issues, inspection & discard criteria.

• Synthetic ropes must operate at 20% of their minimum breaking load (design factor 1:5 up to

1:12 – previous name was safety factor). Loads bigger than 20% must be considered as shock /

dynamic loads.

• Synthetic ropes are delivered in coils, in a protective packaging cloth.

• Uncoiling the rope from the delivery package must be effected carefully and gradually. Twisted

synthetic ropes, upon their delivery, must remain lying for 24 hours, so that they may return to the

condition prior to their winding. After the 24 hours, the rope can be wound on the winch drums on

board. Winding of the twisted ropes must be carried out tightly & evenly at clockwise direction, so

that no spaces are created between the wraps.

• Ideal storage conditions of the rope are in dry and cool environment (19-210C) and above the ground

(eg on pallets) so that they are adequately ventilated. In order to avoid extensive wear on non

stored ropes, care must be taken so that external storage drums/reels to be covered with suitable

cloth, in order to minimize the wear from rain and solar radiation, allowing free flow of air below the

drum.

• Ropes, after their operation in sea water, must be washed off with fresh water and be left to dry

before respooled & stored.

• On what concerns the usage and eye splice making techniques, and rest use of the ropes, please

follow maker’s instructions.

• During mooring operation, ropes can be secured by 8-figure wraps. This method is the

recommended one and that way the rope retains the 90% of its strength. Furthermore, the eye

splice reduces the minimum breaking load by 10%. Securing the rope by using knots (using only

one vertical pole from the “h” of the bollard) is not recommended because holding strength is

reduced by 40 - 50%.

• All synthetic ropes during their operation are elongated, and this elongation is normal within certain

limits. This elongation takes its final value after the 5th usage of the rope under tension at the 45% of

its minimum breaking load. Elongation for Nylon is around 18%~30% and for other synthetic ropes

around 13%~15%, while it must never go over 45% in the synthetic ropes (65% in Nylon ropes). This

practically means that Nylon ropes can elongate more, but same as the synthetic ropes, such a case

is a marginal situation and we must never let the rope reaching its limits.

Piraeus:

Piraeus

USER’S MANUAL Synthetic Ropes

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• Checking ropes that are in use must be a frequent task as their condition reflects safety issues,

primarily of personnel and secondarily of material.

� Ropes must not be exposed in solar radiation

� Ropes must not come in contact with minerals & petrol oils, alkalis and other chemicals.

In such cases, you must locally wash the rope with fresh water and soap.

� Ropes must not be dragged over rough surface

� Ropes must not come in contact with rusted surfaces. In this respect, the rope exit spots

from the ship (panama bows / chocks) must be well maintained as per the rules and

must not be corroded / rusted or rough. Contact with rust can cause drop of the strength

of the nylon rope by 40% even within one month of use.

� If it is possible, please use special plastic inserts or polyester sleeves as chafing

protection of the rope, recommended by the rope maker.

� Operator must take care so that no sudden change in tension occurs (either tensile from

slack condition or sudden loosening), so that the kink formation is avoided.

� Please keep the rope clear – dirt and grit accumulated in the rope acts like sand paper

(grinding) and accelerates wear.

� Please pay attention to the salt incrustations / concentrations which impregnate the

whole rope after its usage in sea water and do not use it when dried, as the internal

yarn on yarn abrasion will intensify. Ropes must be washed again with fresh water so

that so that such concentrations are removed.

• Regular rope inspection (after each use and every week if ship is moored for a long time with

ropes under tension) is conducted as follows:

� All strands are inspected in the whole length of the rope. If kinks are noticed, or other

defect, the rope must be unloaded (off tension) and the defect rectified (if it is possible –

otherwise the rope must be discarded and replaced)

� Please check for dark red, brown or black spots in parts of the strands. If you spot a

strand with the above colors it means that rope has been overloaded and could possibly

show irregular behavior or accelerated deterioration.

� Please check the ambient storage area for possible existence of chemicals. Even if the

chemicals do not come in contact with the rope, fumes may affect the rope.

� Please check rope’s circumference for reduction. Reduction limit of the circumference

with the rope slack (minimum tension 200xd2 in pounds, d circumference in inches), is

up to 5% of the initial when rope was delivered on board (new rope).

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• Please try as much as possible to distribute the wear - reverse occasionally from time to time so that

the outer spliced part comes in and vice versa

• The minimum ratio between sheave / drum or other surfaces’ diameter must be to the rope

diameter 5:1.

Safety measures during rope usage

Using ropes imposes risks for the personnel involved therefore attention should be paid when they are in

operation. Dangers are mostly owed to the fracture of the rope under load, where, the immediate release of

the tension may cause particularly severe injuries. Accidents may also occur during rope usage from

carelessness, personnel negligence and refer in falls, where personal injuries are not particularly serious.

Continuous practice and preventive measures during rope usage maximize the safety factor of the

personnel, while any omissions may lead to adverse situations. The most important factors that are deemed

as being the most dangerous during rope usage is the actual position of the personnel in relation to a rope

under tension as well as the placing of a rope in a bollard under tension.

All deck personnel must be well aware and trained in the rope usage.

For avoiding overloading of the ropes, personnel handling them must know the breaking loads, the

reductions due to the eye splices - joints and the safe method of handling the ropes. Rope in usage must be

loaded as smoothly and gradually as possible and its diameter must be closely monitored. Personnel must

keep in the bollard so many wraps as are needed so that the rope does not slide but at the same time the

loosening to be easy by taking out one wrap. Never secure ropes with many wraps, especially spring ropes,

while ship is still moving.

• Personnel in charge must pay attention to the dangerous areas of the ropes under tension. The

optimum position of the line handlers are in areas off the snap-back danger zone. See figure 1

• The dangerous area is created either from rope tension because of the elasticity tending to come in

line with the winch drum due to the force imposed to it or during the sudden release of the load and

possibly create sweeping effects (figure “8” movement)

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• Upon the decision that the rope will not move further, the placing of figure “8” wraps in the bollard

must be a team work and co-ordinated. With the strop installed on the rope, loosening is done

vertically to the tension axis of the rope and then the wraps are placed without the personnel

leaving the rope from their hands.

Figure 1

Figure 2

• Correct method of installing the figure “8” wraps is shown in the picture on the right.

• Ropes must be wound on the drums or bollards in such a way that the load is born by the inner part

of the rope. See figure 3

� If the rope is extremely elongated, it must be loosened.

� Ropes restraint strops must be from the same material as the main rope.

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� Personnel handling the ropes must wear protective gloves

� Special attention must be given by the personnel that is not handling the ropes, but is around

the area where rope operation is in progress

Figure 3

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Discard or repair criteria

Ropes must be operated under normal working load conditions as per rule no 1 of general rules for handling

and inspecting synthetic ropes). This means that the load must be handled slowly and steadily in order to

minimize the dynamic effects. Loads bigger than the maximum working load limit must be considered as

shock loads, which can stress and destroy the yarns and to result in the premature damage of the rope, even

when handling loads below the maximum working load limit. In the below pictures you will find some of the

reasons for which the condition of the rope will have to be re-evaluated before using it again. In such cases,

you must either cut the part that shows the large localized wear (internally or externally) or the pulled-out

strand or the melting due to increased temperature caused from friction against a metal surface under load

and spliced (if permitted by the regulations) or to retire and withdraw the rope from further use and destroy

/ recycle it according to the local legislation or the corporate or other regulations on handling end of life

products.

Pulled-out strand

Cut strand Friction

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Glazed Increased temperature

Cut Kinck

Twisted

Studies have shown that rope where turns have been induced, there is a reduction in its strength up to 7% per

tpm (turn per meter)

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• For an easier inspection of the ropes (criteria to resplice or to retire the ropes), please follow the

below table according to EN ISO 9554

Rope type and condition Resplice

(if localized) Retire

All ropes

-Bulk of surface yarns or strands reduced by 50% or more for a linear

distance equal to the rope diameter X X

-Rope suspected of being shock loaded X

-Exposure to excess temperature as specified for type of fibre X

-Burns or melting visible for a length of over four rope diameters X X

-Abrasion on inside radius of eye, with bulk of surface yarns or strands

reduced by 50% or more X X

-Rust on nylon (might indicate chemical damage) X X

-Oil and grease Wash in mild detergent

-Heavy surface fuzz-progressive X X

Remove source of abrasion

-UV degradation, splinters on yarn surface X

For braided cover and core ropes

-More than four consecutive pulled cover stands (which cannot be

reincorporated into cover braid) X X

-More than 3 cut cover strands X X

-Multiple cut yarns of filaments within distance of one pitch length X X

-Core visible through cover, because of cover damage X

-Core damage-pulled, cut, abraded, powdered, or melted strands X

-Herniation-core pokes through cover (sheath) X

For 3-& 4-strand and 8- &12/24-strand(braided) ropes

-5% of yarns cut or badly abraded in score between strands X X

-Cover yarns cut or abraded more than 50% on one

or more crowns of rope X X

-Strand cut to 5% of diameter within one lay length X X

-Powdering between adjacent strand contact surfaces X X

-Hockle or backturn X X

-10% abrasion of one strand within one lay length X X

Thermal damage

-Hard, melted, flattened areas of the rope which can indicate serious

damage to the rope X X

-Melting or fusing affecting 20% or more of rope yarns

--If within one lay length X

--If over more than one lay length X

Short-term exposure to temperature above fibre working temperature

-Polyolefins (PP, PE, PP/PE), over 65 ˚C X

-Polyamide, over 100 ˚C X

-Polyester, over 100˚C X

-Manila, over 100˚C X

-Sisal, over 100˚C X

-Hemp, over 150˚C X

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• Above to be used as a guide to replace or not the rope in use.

• Life time limit for ropes is not available in any literature. As long as the storage conditions are ideal,

damage on the rope is theoretically the minimum. Additionally, continuous usage under tension in

hot or cold climate and solar radiation has a significant effect in their lifetime, strength and

properties’ retention. Thus, different practices are followed on what concerns the usage duration of

the ropes.

• Nylon and synthetic ropes that remain exposed in solar radiation may lose in 3 months up to 40% of

their minimum breaking strength (depending also on the intensity of the solar radiation and also if

the rope is reinforced with UV stabilizer, eg fiber NIKASTEEL®).

• Towing ropes that are not under tension for many hours / days, may be used for a longer period, as

long as they are inspected and found in good condition.

For applications where the maximum WLL* has not been determined or a successful experience record

is not available for the type and size of rope used, the following variables should be considered in

determining the design factor (1:5 up to 1:12)

* WLL: Working Load Limit

Loading conditions and/or exposure to Dynamic Loading:

Downsizing of larger diameter ropes to a smaller rope

Loads are not accurately known

High-level shock loads, extreme dynamic or high cyclic loads are likely to occur

Tension is on the rope for long periods

Knots are used, reducing strength up to 50%

Experience of or guidance available to users:

Operators are poorly trained

Operation/use procedures are not well defined and/or controlled

Conditions of use:

Inspection of rope/attachments is infrequent

Abrasion, cutting surfaces and dirt is present

Ropes kept in service for long periods may develop fatigue

Ropes will be subject to sharp bends, or used over pulleys or surfaces with too small a radius

Environmental considerations:

Temperatures higher than fiber limits are present

Hazardous chemicals are present – Fiber resistance to chemicals must be considered

Death, injury or loss of valuable property may result if rope fails

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Notification to the user

This document is meant to be informative and educate the user about the Synthetic ropes of Katradis

Marine Ropes Industry S.A in a number of common scenarios typically encountered in marine applications

and to provide guidance assuming that the load-bearing inner core has not been damaged. Appropriate

procedures for monitoring and inspection of the rope depend on the choice of the core fiber, rope

construction and also on the application involving the ropes. The user is advised to consult appropriate rope

and fiber literature, safety, regulatory, monitoring and inspection literature and documentation such as CI

2001, ISO 9554, MEG 3 Appendix D or other documentation provided by the manufacturer.

DISCLAIMER

Katradis Marine Ropes Industry S.A., to the best of its knowledge, uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to date

information on this manual; it does not, however, make any warranties or representations, either express or implied, as to its

accuracy or completeness. All material and information provided on this manual are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind,

either express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, commercial viability, title or non –

infringement.

Katradis Marine Ropes Industry S.A. and its affiliates assume no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content of

this manual. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure the proper use, handling, maintenance and routine inspection of Synthetic

mooring ropes. Under no circumstances and under no legal theory shall Katradis Marine Ropes Industry S.A., its affiliates, its

suppliers, or any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering this manual’s contents be liable to the users for any

indirect, direct, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising from any cause whatsoever