Overview
ISO 5556:2023 - Ships and marine technology - Sea-going vessels - Single-drum winches for oceanographic research - defines minimum requirements for the design, construction, safety, performance and acceptance testing of single-drum winches with hydraulic or electric drive used in oceanographic research and marine survey operations. The standard covers equipment used for fixed‑point and towing surveys including geological sampling, seawater parameter measurement and biological sampling.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope & terminology: Defines key terms such as safe working load (SWL), nominal speed, top layer working load and dynamic factor (see Clause 3).
- Design and strength: Structural parts must meet strength limits expressed relative to material yield strength (see Clause 4.2). Holding load and allowable stresses are defined to account for dynamic ship motion.
- Drum design and spooling:
- For steel wire ropes the drum diameter shall be at least 16× the rope diameter; manufacturer requirements apply for other cable types (electro‑mechanical, optical fibre, synthetic).
- Minimum rope margin, groove shell for multi‑layer spooling, and at least 5 laps remaining rope under normal conditions (Clauses 4.3–4.4).
- Rope guide sheave diameters similarly constrained (16× for steel wire).
- Drive, brake and speed control:
- Electric drives comply with IEC 60092 and electrical protection per IP56 (IEC 60529); hydraulic drives to ISO 4413 (Clause 4.5).
- Independent drive with reversing, stepless speed control (0 to max) and overload protection; continuous running capability under SWL and nominal speed (generally ≥30 min).
- Normally closed brake capable of resisting holding load without damage; braking must avoid excessive shock (Clause 4.6–4.7).
- Safety, alarms and auxiliary functions:
- Visual and audible alarms for misoperation, overload, overspeed, insufficient rope margin; hydraulic systems require oil temperature/level and filter alarms (Clause 4.8).
- Optional Active Heave Compensation (AHC) to reduce wave motion effects on deployed gear (Clause 4.9).
- Control and testing: Local and remote/portable controls with operation parameter displays; acceptance tests include function, static and dynamic load tests and optional AHC tests (Clause 5).
Applications and users
ISO 5556:2023 is essential for:
- Shipbuilders and naval architects specifying deck machinery for research vessels
- Winch manufacturers and OEMs designing oceanographic single-drum winches
- Research institutions, survey contractors and vessel operators procuring, installing or certifying winches
- Classification societies and inspectors performing acceptance testing and certification
Related standards
ISO 5556:2023 provides a practical, safety‑focused framework to ensure reliable single‑drum winch performance in oceanographic research and marine survey operations.