Why is the Tug going backwards... ?

[bladesman123]

I like this video, it shows a tug boat going backwards

[miguelaltes]

Just maybe the marine version of "Mater" from Disney`s movie "Cars"....... Maybe....

[winter526]

I think youll find that the underlined reason is simply that those svwitzer boys are just a bit strange!!

[darrenstill]

are you all retards the reason she is going backwards (astern) is to prevent too much wash

[Gpoint177]

I've been aboard tug boat with Voith Shneider propulsion and We've sailed so many times like this. It is nothing special.

[YouAreSpotOnWithThat]

Dear Willy.,

Haven't you heard of the song "Stuck On Repeat" ?

Cheers.

from,

Willy Digaditch.

(Katowice Poland.)

[Anigmalistic]

When the tug goes astern the pivot point moves to about 1/3 to 1/5 of the tug's length from the stern, which means that the turning force from the Voith Schneider is separated from the pivot point and provides a good turning lever and therefore greater manoevrability.

And in case you were wondering how I know all this the question "Under what circumstances would a vessel be more manoevrable going astern and which vessel would this likely apply to?" cropped up in one of my OOW CoC exams :-)

[Anigmalistic]

However you can see the problem if the pivot point AND the turning force are in the same place, there is no turning lever and this makes manoevring difficult.

For this reason the Voith Schneider is normally placed about 1/3 of the tug's length from the bow so that she has a turning lever whilst towing, but this presents the problem that when going ahead without a tow the pivot point and turning force are once again in the same place.

[Anigmalistic]

Glad to be of help :-)

The specific reason for going astern is to do with the movement of the pivot point. On a normal ship the pivot point for turning sits about 1/3 to 1/5 of the ship's length from the bow meaning that when a turning force is applied from the rudders at the stern the ship turns. With a tug engaged in towing the pivot point moves to the point at which the towing wire acts on the tug, and this is normally intentionally at the stern to avoid girting (another google for you) :)

[DrumGold]

While the tugs can go sideways, they generally go ahead or astern because it is much faster and they can pull harder. Its a characteristic of the Voith Schneider Propeller propulsion system. :)

[Anigmalistic]

The answer to the question is "Voith Schneider Propulsion" I am not going to explain it all to you, do your own research, but I will give you a clue, look for "ship manoevring characteristics" with particular reference to "turning pivot points" have fun googling.

[DrumGold]

@Anigmalistic WKD ! Cheers m8. Just looked on Wikipedia.

[GordoB91]

its towing astern for better manouverability. it is far easier for the tug to reposition itself during a turn then apply the thrust once again at a different angle in order to help pull the Bow of the towed vessel

[MrRandomist]

This Tug is what's called a Tractor tug, they use a different means of propulsion than a usual tug with a conventional propellor. The propulsion set up is such that, when going backwards, there is a larger turning leaver resulting in higher manouvrebility when travelling astern =]

[fenlander001]

perhaps they gotm fed up with going forrards

[82abnoff]

Some, most idiots do not understand the propusion system on the boat.

[skankycam]

They like to go backwards at high tide because much less wash does not damage the river bank.

Also the captain can say look what a clever bastard I am going backwards with one hand on the wheel and the other scraching my arse.

[triablowiked]

Can I just say your wrong, its because there is more Torque when going backwards therefore better pulling power.

[circusactone]

@triablowiked

its not pulling anything at the moment. You are right though in general.

[channelimages]

Wrong!

[yerkmusic]

Hey... you all really need to get a life!!

[fristonfred]

its a voith tug you prick, its going astern because the skipper can just as easily as he can go ahead. svitzer mercia.

[mcspoonshine]

This is a tractor tug with Azimuths, The pivot point is provides better handling and stability when operating astern. Also its a ship not a boat!

[CrazyCars552]

It;s an Azimuth tracotr tug. Becuase of the Propellor layout/Shape, they go faster backwards :P

[bobbeck89]

y not:D

[csmaster65]

Maybe it is like in a car where you have reverse gear? Exept the propellers spinning the oppesite way....

[Anigmalistic]

I would think that the tug is going backwards because she is using a Voith Schneider propulsion system. This is a downward pointing series of blades mounted just forward of amidships that enables the tug to move in any dir direction by adjusting the pitch. However when the tug is not towing its pivot point moves in the direction of travel, in the case of VS fitted vessels to almost under the propulsion unit, meaning that they have no turning lever to steer. going backwards negates this effect.

[chewydean]

tug skipper.

1st towing gear aft

2nd tug makes less wash when running that way

3rd because they built and designed to go that way. hint check the reversable nav lights

4th because they can

5th because they want to

6th tugs masters all pilot exempt so none onboard

[VolvoFH12580]

I sailed out of dartford in kent for dart line, tugs sailed backwards mainly up that far because its too narrow to swing round because of heavy traffic, also when in tow the tug thats going backwards operates as the break tug, ive seen them tow a brazilian naval vessel backwards from HMS Belfast to purfleet when they turned it.

[nollyspee]

this tug is the ex sun mercia, now adsteam mercia, twin voith schieder propulsion, the reason is to reduce the wash caused in the upper reaches on the thames, they can run ahead and astern eqaully as fast, have worked on this vessel as chief engineer

[matthewhammock]

R U Daniel???, they create less wash, the waves that a tug/ship creates as it moves through the water is reduced for Voith Schneider tugs which this one is (the Adsteam Mercia)when they run astern (backwards).xxx

[Karbine2006]

The reason she is travelling backwards is because they can travel almost the same speed astern as they can ahead, it also creates less wash. It also saves spinning the tug around

[westhamunited14]

it is going bacwards because it is easy to stear and view other boats

[neotheone8888]

it's going stern first because this creates less wash.

[Daniel631339]

I am a pilot of one of these lovely machines and the only reasons I could think of for this type of maneuver is her foward propulsion isnt working correctly, or she may have been using her speedometer to measure the speed in witch the current was moving.

[DrumGold]

Ah !!! Thanks !! for the reply Daniel !!

Yeh lets hope we get some more answers !!

I think you may be right as the three tugs had to pull a very large ship up the Thames so they probably needed current speeds to do it all !

[phildeez1984]

could be a lot of reasons maybe he didnt feel like topping around and just let the current drag him down stream or could have been staging for the ship and needed to get out of the way of other traffic in the area