201532 A slip that has good results

One of our tankers in ballast went to anchorage with winds at F4. Winds subsequently increased to F6/7 and the vessel began dragging. The crew weighed anchor and then re-anchored, but to no avail as they continued to drag with six shackles out.
Meanwhile, another tanker anchored nearby had also started to drag anchor and was approaching their vessel, now at 0.3 nm. As the crew tried to heave anchor once again they noticed that their anchor appeared to be fouled with the ground tackle of the second tanker. As the vessels continued to close, now at 0.15 nm, the crew on our vessel slipped their anchor at the bitter end and manoeuvred away from the second vessel without further incident.
The anchor was retrieved four days later and re-installed on the vessel.

Lessons learned
- In strong winds, it is often a better strategy to drift outside an anchorage especially if an initial attempt at anchoring has proven fruitless.
- Slipping an anchor at an anchorage to avoid damage from collision or other sources can be a prudent move. The cost and possible consequences of collision or other damage are usually greater than those associated with recovery of the anchor and chain.

Editor’s comment: Go have a look at your vessel’s bitter end. Is it an easy job to slip?