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1 INTRODUCTION
Maneuveringordersfortugboatsshouldbeusedwith
anadvanceagreementbetweentheoperatorsofships
andoftugboats, for the former operatorsto provide
cleardirectionstothoseoftugboatsemployed, when
ships’ entering or leaving their berth. And it takes
some time the operators of tugboats
to initiate
necessary actions and change their positions after
receiving any tug maneuvering orders from the
operatorsofships.Therefore,anyshipoperatorshave
to give tug orders in anticipation of this delay time
when the posture change of a tugboat is required,
whichisessentialforthesecurityof
bothherselfanda
shipsupportedbyher.
The purpose ofthis studyis to research the time
lagbetweenwhenamaneuveringtugorderisgiven
and when any expected action is taken, and to
examineasafertimingtogivemaneuveringordersto
atugboat.Andalsothepurpose
hereistoproposethe
global standardization of maneuvering orders for
tugboats, showing the problems caused by using
special tug orders in Japan, and weighing how the
ordersfortugboatsareemployedinJapanandother
foreigncountries.
ABSTRACT:Theuseof“StandardManeuveringOrders”fortugboats, vocabularyandphrasesmutually
pre‐
agreedbetweenshipsandtugboats,isessentialfortheformertoprovidecleardirectionforthelatter when
berthing or un‐berthing safely. Tugboats will need time to change their posture before they take actions in
response to orders from persons responsible for ships’ maneuvering. Therefore, when giving directions
to
changetugboats’posture,personswhohandletheirshipsarerequiredtosendouttugorders,withregardto
“delay time,” a gap be‐tween the orders from ships and the actions taken by tugboats. “Tug Orders”
standardizedandusedinJapanarecomposedofthefollowingthreefactorsconcerningtowage
work:tugboat’s
motion, direction andengine power,but theauthor’s research shows that there are “Non‐standard” special
maneuvering orders other than those “standardized,” which causes such problems as a gap in perception
betweenpilotsandtugboat’sopera‐tors,etc.Thepurposeofthispaperistoresearchthedelay
timebetween
ordersforandactionsbytugboatsandconsidertheappropriateandsafetimingofprovidinginstructionsto
them, and then to propose globally‐authorized “Standard Maneuvering Orders for tugboats”, discussing a
probleminvolvedintheuseofthespecialordersusedinJapan,andthewayinwhichtug
ordersareusedin
othercountries.
Proposal for Global Standard Maneuvering Orders for
Tugboats
A.Ishikura&K.Sugita
M
arineTechnicalCollege,Ashiya,Hyogo,Japan
Y.Hayashi&K.Murai
KobeUniversity,Kobe,Hyogo,Japan
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 7
Number 4
December 2013
DOI:10.12716/1001.07.04.05
510
2 THEPRESENTCONDITIONSANDPROBLEMS
OFTHETUGMANEUVERINGORDERSIN
JAPAN
InharborsofJapan,maneuveringordersforatugboat
are given by using the commands mutually agreed
beforehandbetweenapilotandatugboatorbyusing
“theSettledTermofManeuveringOrdersforTowage
Work” set
out by Japan Tug Owners’ Association
(hereinaftercalled,“SettledTerm”,inthispaper),and
inJapanese.
HereisFigure1whichshowsaflowchartoftug
maneuvering orders set out in “Settled Term,” in
whichtheyshallbeprovidedinthefollowingorder:
theinstructionsforthemovement(“Push”
or“Pull),
the engine power, and the direction (given by
“Clockwise”).
Figure1.FlowchartofTugordersinJapan
However,therearesomeotherspecialtugorders
for each of her movement, engine power, and
directionthanthosein“SettledTerm.”Andalsothe
researchrevealsthatthespecialorderstomaneuvera
tuganduseherenginearemorefrequentlyused,and
thatthereisagapinperception
betweenapilotanda
tugoperatorgivingandreceivingtheorders.Wewill
beginbyconsideringtheproblemsofthespecialtug
ordersrelatingtohermovementandenginepowerin
Japan,andthefindingsofourresearchontheorders
fortugboatsusedinU.S.A.andSriLanka.
2.1 Tugorders(Movement)inJapan
InJapan,asTable1indicates,therearemanyspecialorders
requiring a tugboat to prepare for next movements or to
change her positions, and to use her engine at the same
time. And also there are some different phrases of tug
orders though they require the same movements for a
tugboat.
Table1.Tugorders(Movement)inJapan
_______________________________________________
MotionTugOrders
PhrasesTheirMeaning
(inJapanese)(inEnglish)
_______________________________________________
PositioningHIKU‐YOUIStandbyPulling
orderonly OSU‐YOUIStandbyPushing
YOKONINARE Sidebyside
_______________________________________________
PositioningHARIAWASERU Giveatension
orderaddin BURASAGARE Applyload
EnginePower ATAMA‐O‐TUKERU Attachthebow
OSITUKEKeepapushing
MOTAREKAKARE Keepapushing
YORIKAKARE Keepapushing
DAKITUKESidebyside
_______________________________________________
2.2 Tugorders(EnginePower)inJapan
As for engine power, there are more than a dozen
non‐standardordersotherthan“SettledTerm,”such
as, in descending order, Dead Slow, Half of Dead
Slow,Quarter of DeadSlow,Minimum, and Omega
(drivingClutch),etc.,allofwhichareweaker
thanso‐
standardized “Slow” in “Settled Term.” And also in
thecaseofenginepower,therearedifferent phrases
ofordersrequiringthesamepoweroutputforatug,
asisthecaseinordersforhermovements.Thereare
suchordersas“OneEighthofDeadSlow”or“3%
of
Maximum Power” other than all of these non‐
standardengineordersrequiringenginepowerofless
thanDeadSlow(25%).
Table2.SpecialtugordersinJapan(Power)
_______________________________________________
MotionTugOrders
PhrasesTheirMeaning
(inJapanese)(inEnglish)
_______________________________________________
Powerbased DEADSLOW‐NO‐ HalfofDeadslow
onEngine HANBUN
Telegraph DEADSLOW‐NO‐ Halfofoneeighthof
1/2～1/8Deadslow
OMEGAUsingOMEGA
slippingClutches
_______________________________________________
ItisnotbasedKARUKULightly
onEngine MINIMUMAtaminimumlevel
Telegraph GOKUGOKUVerysoft
BISOKUVeryslow
_______________________________________________
2.3 TugordersinU.S.A.(LosAngeles,Longbeach)
InU.S.A.(LosAngeles,Longbeach),thestandardtug
orders shall be given in the following order: the
instructions for movements (“Push” or “Pull”) first,
followed by engine power and direction (given by
“Angle”basedonship)ofatugboat.
Compared
to the case in Japan, a distinguished
difference is that there are only six kinds of engine
powerordersinU.S.A.,asshowninFigure2,andthat
special tug orders as used in Japan are hardly
employed. Another difference is that, in U.S.A., a
tugboat responds to a pilot
with a whistle while
transceiverusedinJapan.
Figure2. Flow chart of Tug orders in U.S.A(Los Angeles,
Longbeach)
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2.4 TugordersinSriLanka
InSriLanka,theflowofthestandardtugordersis,as
follows: the instructions for tug’s movements (using
“Push”or“Pull”),enginepoweranddirection(given
by “Clockwise”), in this order. The orders for the
preparation for tug’s movements, which is not
standardized
as “Settled Term” in Japan, are those
amongthestandardtugordersinSriLanka.
Andalsothereareonlysixkindsoftugorderfor
enginepower(showninFigure3),asisinthecaseof
U.S.A., and special tug orders, which are very often
usedinJapan,
arehardlyemployed.
Figure3.FlowchartofTugordersinSriLanka
2.5 Communicationamongbridgeteam
Thecommonlanguageusedonthebridgeshouldbe
English, as required in the International Convention
for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, and therefore
SMCPsisdevelopedinEnglish.
In November 2001, the Assembly of the
International Maritime Organization adopted as
Resolution A.918 (22),
the IMO Standard Marine
CommunicationPhrases(SMCPs)intendedtoreplace
the Standard Marine Navigational Vocabulary
(SMNV)adoptedin1977andamended in 1985. The
purposeofSMCPsistostandardizetheEnglishterms
andphrasescommonlyusedinbridge‐to‐bridgeand
bridge‐to‐shore communication, and then to
contribute
asafernavigation.
Figure4.InformationflowinNavigationBridge
HoweverinJapan,thecommunicationbetweena
shipandatugboatengagedintheoperationstoenter
and leave berth is established in Japanese. When a
pilotandatugboatusetheirlocalnativelanguagein
anyforeignports ofcall,thecaptain oftheshipand
her crew cannot understand
what they are talking
about, and then have to let the pilot completely
maneuver the ship, where they cannot have any
doubtaboutthepilot’smaneuveringintentions.
AccordingtoJapanCoastGuard,therewere2,187
marine accidents (Except for accidents caused by
forcemajeure(346vessels))intotalin2011
(withina
singleyear),infact332ofwhichoccurredinharbors.
They also say that 1,681 of 2,187 marine accidents
occurred because of “human error” (the rate of
occurrenceof77%).
Many shipping companies in Japan have
introducedtheBridgeResourceManagementtraining
(hereinaftercalled,“BRM,”inthispaper)to
preventa
chain of “human error” which is the main factor of
marine accident. In addition, the BRM training has
been mandated for seafarers as minimum
requirementsforcertificationofofficersinchargeofa
navigational watch by the 2010 Manila amendments
totheSTCWConventionandCode(TableA‐
II/1).
Pilots use the language which the key personnel
on board the ship can understand when explaining
theirintentionstothem.However,asinJapan,pilots
may use a local language understandable for
operatorsoftugboatandgrandstaffonwharforpier
when conveying their intentions or giving the
instructions
to them by transceiver. Figure 4 shows
theinformationflowchartonboardtheshipentering
or leaving berth with the service of tugboats
employed, where pilots perform the berthing
operations,playingapivotalroleasakeypersonto
give orders to tugboats or ships and to share
information
with ground staff on a wharf or pier.
Generally speaking, standard maneuvering orders,
mutuallyagreed between a pilot andan operator of
tugboatbeforehand,areusedintheircommunication.
However, our research reveals that these orders are
not globally standardized, but employed only as
locally‐limited orders agreed between pilots and
tugboats. In some cases, the orders not agreed
between their users may be used in Japan. In these
situations,thecrewonboardcannotunderstandwhat
apilotandanoperatoroftugboatorgroundstaffare
communicating about, where, although the pilot
possibly makes a human error, the crew
cannot
realize their dangerous situation because of the
languagedifficulties.
3 POSITIONCHANGEORDERSFORTUGBOAT
ANDITSDELAYTIME
3.1 Methodofresearch
We used the data of front‐affixed video cameras on
bridge and the AIS position data derived from
tugboats in the ports of Tokyo and Yokohama from
January 2011 to July 2012. These video data include
their shooting date, time, and also sound. By using
the shooting dates recorded in the video data, we
measured a gap between when a position change
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order for a tug from a pilot is given and when
necessaryactionsfortheorderarecompleted.
3.2 Resultsofresearch
The results of the research on the amount of time
spentontugs’changingtheirpositionsareshownin
Figure 5 Such tug orders as “Push” or “Pull”
are
generally given after the advance announcement of
actionsaregiventotugboatsbyusingthetugorders
such as “Stand by to push” or “Stand by to pull,”
which are not standardized in Japan. However, the
ordersof“Standbytopush”orStandbytopull”may
be
followedby“Push”or“Pull”withoutanygap.
Each average value of the time length spent on
tugs’ changing positions is, as follows in the
descending order: “Stand by to pull” to “Push,”
“Standbytopush”to“Standbytopull,”“Standbyto
push” to “Pull,” “Stand by to
pull” to “Pull,” and
“Standbytopush”to“Push.”Ineachcase,thereare5
toover10secondsofdelaytimeonaverage.
In addition, when a ship is navigating or a long
tuglineisused,ittakessomemoretimeatugboatto
changeherpositions.
Takingforinstancethecase in
whichatugboatchangesherpositionsfrom“Standby
to pull” to “Push,” the time length spent on her
changingpositionsisshowninFigure6whenaship
is navigating and in Figure 7 when a tug line of
variouslengthsisused.It
isessentialtomaneuver a
shipwithapredictionbasedonthisdelaytimewhen
sheisnavigatingoralonglineisusedonboardthe
shipwhichhashigherfreeboard.
Figure5.Transitiontimebetweentugboat’sactions
Figure6. Transition time between tug boat’s actions （S/B
Pull→Push）byship’sspeeds
Figure 7. Transition time by every length of tug’s line (From S/B
Pull to Push)
4 CONCLUSIONS
InJapan,U.S.A.,andSriLanka,asourresearchshows
above, maneuvering orders for a tugboat are
commonly given in the following order: motion,
engine power, and direction. As for the orders for
tugʹs movements,ʺPushʺ andʺPullʺ are used as the
commontermsinportsofall
thecountries.
However,thetugordersforherenginepowerand
directionvariesineachcountry.Especiallyinportsof
Japan, some special terms of the orders for engine
power and directionare used, and, moreover, pilots
and tugboats communicate in Japanese, their local
language.Andittakesacertain
amountoftimefora
tugboat to change her positions afterher
maneuvering orders given. The length of this time
delaytendstobecomelongerwhenthetugboathave
to change her positions drastically(as in the case of
her changes of motion fromʺPushʺ toʺPullʺ or vice
versa),when
thereisaratherlongdistancebetweena
shipandatugboat(inwhichacorrespondinglylong
tuglineisused),orwhentheshipismovingthough
veryslowly.
5 PROPOSAL
In the communication between a pilot and an
operator of tugboat, some standard orders mutually
agreed beforehand between
them are general used,
butthesetugorders,asourresearchreveals,arenot
globallystandardizedyet, and theseordersareused
with rather locally agreed between them. In Japan,
some maneuvering orders even not agreed between
theirusersmaybeemployed.
In the berthing operations, pilots are playing a
pivotal
role as a key person to provide necessary
maneuvering orders to tugboats and ships, and to
share information with ground staff on a wharf or
pier. And also pilots are required to handle various
operationsatthesametimewhilemaneuveringaship
because they have to give engine power
orders to
each of the operators of multiple tugboats and the
officers or quartermasters on board the ship.
Moreover,theyhavetogivetugmaneuveringorders
inanticipationofatimelagbetweenwhenanorderis
givenandwhenanynecessaryactionsaretakenand
513
completed,soitisabsolutelyessential forbridgeteam
memberstodouble‐checkthemaneuveringintentions
onpilots’sideinordertoensurenavigationalsafety.
Here we recommend and propose that globally‐
standardizedordersformaneuveringatugaresettled
andincludedinSMCPsforthebridgeteam to serve
itsfunctionformaritimesafety.
REFERENCES
International Maritime Organization, 2002, IMO Standard
MarineCommunicationPhrases.63
Ishikura,A., Sugihara,S., Hayashi,Y. & Murai,K. 2011. A
ResearchonManeuveringOrdersforTowageServicein
Japan.TheJournalofJapanInstituteofNavigation.125:91‐
97
Japan Coast Guard. 2012. Kainan no genjyo to taisaku ni
tuite.Edtion.2011:9