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A three-panel instructional illustration showing tugboat operations: a tug with a broken towline to a barge, a tug approaching a buoy, and deckhands grappling a line.

A three-panel instructional illustration showing tugboat operations: a tug with a broken towline to a barge, a tug approaching a buoy, and deckhands grappling a line.

Sequence 1: Towline Retrieval by the Primary Tug (Post Break) Illustration 1: The Break and Drift Scene: A large tug and a massive barge (the tow) are in open water. The towing wire between them has snapped. Visuals: The tug is dead in the water, slight white smoke from the stack indicating engines stopped. The broken tow wire hangs limply from the tug's stern, the end disappearing into the water. A large, orange dan buoy with a flag is now attached to the broken end on the tug's deck, floating on the surface just behind the tug. The barge is shown drifting slowly away from the tug, its broken bridle end also trailing in the water. Arrow: A large arrow indicates the wind and current direction pushing the tug and barge apart. Illustration 2: The Approach from Leeward Scene: A top-down (bird's eye view) of the tug and the dan buoy. Visuals: The dan buoy is floating, bobbing in the waves. The tug is shown making a wide, slow turn. Dotted Line: A dotted line shows the tug's path, approaching the dan buoy from the downwind side (the leeward side). Annotation: A note near the tug's stern says: "Keep propellers upwind of the line." The tug's bow is pointing into the wind, but it is positioned so the line is on its leeward (protected) side. Illustration 3: Grappling the Line Scene: A close-up of the tug's stern. Visuals: Deckhands in life jackets and hard hats are on the open stern deck. One deckhand is swinging a grappling hook (like a small, multi-pronged anchor) attached to a Mehr sehen