Abstract
Recent climate studies forecast violent weather events with impact on the safety of maritime transportation. For example, harsh weather may result in system failures such as blackouts or loss of steering capability. Problems met when performing planned maintenance at sea may lead to adverse events if the weather cause delays or makes it impossible to complete the planned work. A drifting vessel in general is a liability for collisions with offshore structures, groundings, and total loss due to capsizing. The increasing use of ocean structures for energy production at sea (coastal and deepwater windfarms) and the transfer of fish farming structures to more exposed locations increase the probability of collisions between drifting ships and ocean structures. To mitigate risks, several incidents and their consequences have been analysed by national administrations. In some cases, these analyses have recommended the use of dedicated emergency towing resources. The willingness of the national governments to fund such resources is directly related to the time since the last major incident in their territorial waters. This paper reviews some recent cases of emergency towing operations in Norwegian waters and highlights challenges interlinked to setting up an emergency towing connection between a drifting ship and an emergency towing vessel in harsh weather.
