Lankoloop promises quick and easy towing and mooring connection

Lankoloop connected to vessel's mooring line.

Maritime ropes manufacturer Lankhorst Ropes has introduced what it says is “the world’s easiest and quickest towing and mooring connection.” Called Lankoloop, it uses a simple knot and eye connection to complete the connection in seconds. No shackle or other hardware is needed for the Lankoloop; feeding it through any smooth strongpoint will complete the connection.

The Lankoloop pennant is made from a twelve-strand HMPE (High Modulus Polyethylene) rope. It has an impressive weight-to-strength ratio. Compared to a steel wire sling of the same length and capacity, it will match the breaking strength at only 15% of the weight. Typically, a 44 mm Lankoloop will have a breaking strength of 143.1 Mt MBF.

SIMPLE AND STRONG CONNECTION

Ease of handling and speed of connection are vital in many towing situations especially in adverse weather conditions. Lankoloop is an all-in-one connection, no additional device is needed. Simplifying the connection to a single openable eye ensures a safer operation without compromising on the strength of the complete softline connection system.

In practice, a main Lankoforce mooring line can be provided with a Lankloop eye, so that an 8 strand stretcher can be more easily connected and disconnected without the need for a shackle or other hardware connection.

Heading up the Lankoloop development, Pedro de Jager, senior application engineer, Lankhorst Ropes, said, “The Lankoloop greatly increases the opportunities for softline connections using fewer components, such as shackles. This has the added benefit that less items need certifying, and there are less points of inspection and possible failure.”

INNOVATIVE MOORING OPPORTUNITIES

The simplicity of the Lankoloop allows many different mooring and towing configurations, as well as innovative approaches to mooring. For example, at a vessel fueling station. In the past the vessel would pull up to the fueling station and the vessel’s mooring lines passed to a crew on the dock to moor. Now the dock has erected large poles that the Lankoloops hang on, the vessel pulls up and takes the Lankoloops off the pole then connects them to its own mooring winches and winds the Lankoloop onto the winches. After bunkering is completed, the Lankoloops are returned to the poles. Lankoloop allows the fueling company to run the station with less staff and at times completely un-manned.

“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,” says Wilco Stroet, managing director, Lankhorst Ropes. “Lankoloop is an important development for the maritime industry that makes softline rope connections quicker and easier to complete.”

Lankoloop is the latest softline innovation by Lankhorst Ropes and the subject of an international patent pending application (No. PCT/NL2020/050115).