Lifting, deck and access gearLesson 9 of 10
Anchors, chain cable and windlass – design limits, surveys and wear
You will understand the design limits of anchors, chain and windlasses, what a surveyor checks when the cable is ranged, and how to avoid losing an anchor.
14 minutes · For signed-up learners, free · Rules checked 20 October 2026
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Ships lose anchors far more often than most people think. Gard, a P&I insurer, has reported that class societies see roughly one anchor lost per 100 ships a year. In the winter of 2020 to 2021, with many cruise ships laid up at anchor off the English south coast during the pandemic, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) recorded several anchor losses in a row and found that the gear was being used beyond what it was designed for.
The key fact is in the first paragraph of the IACS rule: ship’s anchoring equipment is designed for temporary mooring in a harbour or sheltered area, not to hold a ship off an exposed coast in a gale. Knowing the design limits of the anchor, the chain, the brake and the stopper is what keeps them in the hawse pipe.
Continue this lesson free
The rest of this lesson, the interactive Windlass, chain cable and anchor: what to check and the quiz are open to signed-up learners. It's free, takes a minute, and opens every lesson in all 14 courses.
In this lesson
- Try it: Windlass, chain cable and anchor: what to check
- In plain words
- In detail
- What the rules say
- Flag and class notes
- Key numbers
- What inspectors find
- Questions people ask
- Quiz: 6 questions
Sources
- 1 IACS Unified Requirement A1, Anchoring equipment, Rev.7 (September 2020) Corr.1 (September 2021), section A1.1 (copy hosted by ABS). https://ww2.eagle.org/content/dam/eagle/regulatory-news/2022/IACS-UR-A1.pdf
- 2 IACS Unified Requirement A3, Anchor windlass design and testing, Rev.1 (June 2019), sections 3 to 6 (copy hosted by Türk Loydu). https://turkloydu.org/pdf-files/iacs-karar-ve-csr-degisimleri/iacs-es-gereklilikleri/UR_A3_Rev1_TR_EN.pdf
- 3 IACS Unified Requirement Z7, Hull classification surveys, Rev.26, paragraph 2.2.4 (copy hosted by Türk Loydu). https://www.turkloydu.org/pdf-files/iacs-karar-ve-csr-degisimleri/iacs-es-gereklilikleri/UR_Z7_Rev26_TR_EN.pdf
- 4 Gard, Loss of anchors and chain (loss prevention article, 9 February 2011). https://gard.no/insights/loss-of-anchors-and-chain/
- 5 UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch, Safety Bulletin SB1/2021, Multiple cruise ship anchor failures during autumn/winter 2020 to 21 (30 March 2021). https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/safety-warning-about-multiple-cruise-ship-anchor-failures
Free awareness training. Al Safwan Marine is not an approved training provider, so no certificate is given, and these courses are not a qualification. They don't replace STCW training, manufacturer training or the certification technicians need for this work. The manufacturer's manual and your flag's rules always come first.
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