🔍 Key Concepts

• Tripping of a tug: what happens when the tow line leads at a large angle off the tug’s heading and the tow pulls the tug sideways • How the lead of the towline (forward vs. aft, high vs. low) affects leverage on the hull and turning moment • Relationship between bitt position and the tug’s ability to turn and recover if the tow line goes abeam

💭 Think About

• Visualize a towline leading well off the tug’s bow versus well aft near the stern — in which case does the tow have more leverage to spin the tug around? • How does raising the bitts higher versus lower change the overturning moment if the line comes under heavy side strain? • Which bitt position makes it hardest for the tug’s rudder and propeller to counteract a sudden pull from the tow?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be clear on what “tripping” means: the tug being capsized or violently slewed by the towline under side strain • Consider both fore‑and‑aft location (forward vs. amidships vs. aft) and vertical height (high vs. low) and how each affects the capsizing moment • Eliminate any option that claims the danger of tripping is “eliminated” or that bitt position has “no significance”—check if that seems realistic with heavy towing forces