Posted on April 1, 2021
Maritime and offshore synthetic fibre and steel wire rope manufacturer Lankhorst Ropes has introduced Lankoloop, described as the world’s quickest and easiest towing and mooring connection.
The theme when reporting activities in the towing industry generally revolves around technical developments be it digitisation and automation or advances in reducing emissions. It is easy to forget however that basic hardware and seamanship skills present since day one are still fundamental to the sector including one of the most basic, connecting towing and mooring lines.
Lankhorst’s Lankoloop connection uses a simple knot and eye connection to ‘complete the connection in seconds’ and can be repeatedly opened and close if needed. Feeding it through any smooth strongpoint completes the connection. A feature of Lankoloop is that no other hardware is required with the connection replacing a conventional cow hitch or shackle.
The manufacturer states that ease of handling and the ability to connect lines safely and quickly are ‘vital’ in many towing situations, particularly in adverse weather conditions and that simplifying the connection to a single openable eye ensures ‘a safer operation without compromising on the strength of the complete line configuration.’
Lankoloop follows earlier development of the Lankonect soft line connection (see MJ February 2018) and is constructed from a twelve-strand HMPE (High Modulus Polyethylene) rope with an ‘unmatched weight-to-strength ratio’ compared with a steel wire sling of the same length and capacity. Compared to such a sling it will match the breaking strength at only 15% of the weight and typically a 44mm Lankoloop will have a breaking strength of 143.1Mt MBF.
Wilco Stroet, Lankhorst ropes managing director said: ‘For both towing and mooring, the Lankoloop is a breakthrough in terms of safety and ease of connection without the need to handle heavy shackles, allowing single person towing and mooring connections. Lankoloop is an important development for the maritime industry that makes soft line rope connections quicker and easier to complete.’
Lankhorst Ropes was established in 1751 as a ropery and sailmaker in Sneek in the Netherlands where its headquarters is still based with a global sales and stock point network in: Canada; north and south America; the Middle East; Singapore and Australia. Within Europe it also has local sales offices at Redford UK, and Bilbao Spain.
By Peter Barker
