Towing a tender is safer and less worrisome with a tool that acts as your eyes and ears.
Towing a tender can create extra worries. But new tools such as TowPro by TSM Systems can add peace of mind and help in an emergency.
TowPro can alert the bridge to common problems before they result in loss or damage, such as battery levels, bilge pump activity and boat stability. If any of the safety indicators exceed preset thresholds, audible and visual alerts warn crew of potential problems to investigate.
“Running with a tow is stressful from a captain and crew’s point of view,” says Captain Roger Weston of Alicia. “The chase boat is our main form of transport for guests and a key part of our operation. To have eyes on board an unmanned craft that is being towed behind us is a huge benefit to bridge procedures and the watch keepers. Having the ability to know in advance of some form of issue enables us to come away from the passage plan, seek shelter and assess the situation.”
If a tow rope breaks and the tender is beyond a certain distance from the yacht, an alarm is sounded in the bridge of the mothership and the TowPro Tender Unit turns into a Class B AIS, broadcasting a NUC message which can be seen on the mothership’s ECDIS. Meanwhile, the tender unit sends an alert and position to the cloud via an in-built iridium modem. This is used to locate the tender if out of AIS range. With these communication methods, the system alerts the bridge in case of a tow break, or theft.
A tool like TowPro can also be useful for insurance-related reasons. While towing a tender, insurance conditions could restrict passage planning, says Michelle Van der Merwe, superyacht account manager at Pantaenius. “If tenders are regularly towed, it is important to check this in the policy, as underwriters will assume a higher risk in this case — usually they will request the towing plan and assess whether to include the towing of tenders in the policy,” Michelle says.
Insurers may require regular observations of the towed tender, but remote observations have limitations as it will only let you know when the tender has already gone adrift. Some policies require a 24/7 watch, AIS on the tender, camera fixed on the tender or a beacon at night. Global insurance companies also insist on an advanced tow protection system for towing a tender at night or beyond a certain distance offshore.