Anchor monitoring system

A method for signaling an alarm when an anchor system, including an anchor connected to a ship at sea via a rode, fails to hold the ship in place, the method comprising the steps of:

• monitoring rode load;
• monitoring wind velocity;
• and
• signaling said alarm in response to a combination of time varying behavior of monitored wind velocity and rode load that is indicative of an anchor system failure.

An apparatus for signaling an alarm when an anchor system, including an anchor connected to a ship at sea via a rode, fails to hold the ship in place, the apparatus comprising:

• a rode load sensor for producing a first output signal indicating rode load;
• a wind velocity sensor for producing a second output signal indicating wind velocity;
• and
• a current velocity sensor for producing a third output signal indicating current velocity;
• monitoring and alarming means for monitoring said first and second output signals and for signaling said alarm in response to a combination of time varying behavior of wind velocity, current velocity and rode load indicated by said first, second and third output signals.

An apparatus for signaling an alarm when an anchor system, including an anchor connected to a ship at sea via a rode, fails to hold the ship in place in a current, the apparatus comprising:

• a rode load sensor for producing a first output signal indicating rode load;
• a current velocity sensor for producing a second output signal indicating current velocity;
• and
• monitoring and alarming means for monitoring said first and second output signals and for signaling said alarm in response to a combination of time varying behavior of current velocity and rode load indicated by said first and second output signals.

An apparatus for signaling an alarm when a mooring line fails to hold a ship in place, the apparatus comprising:

• a mooring line load sensor for producing a first output signal indicating a load on said mooring line;
• a wind velocity sensor for producing a second output signal indicating wind velocity;
• and
• monitoring and alarming means for monitoring said first and second output signals and for signaling said alarm in response to a combination of time varying behavior of wind velocity and load indicated by said first and second output signals.