Photo by Danny Cornelissen
MarineLink has a short article about modern fiber ropes/line/cable. Really this is clearly a commercial for rope/line manufacturer, Phillystran, but it does have some interesting information about one of the basic tools of the Coast Guard.
Samson Rope probably has similar articles on the new fibers, not only moving away from cable but also nylon for mooring lines – been some major improvements the last decade or so
As deckie maritime school graduate who joined the coast guard, I was kinda taken aback when I saw how the large coast guard cutters did not use constant tension wenches and used manual line handling. Seemed rather labor intensive, but they have all those boatswain mates.
The military has been slow to automate some systems, sort of KISS thing and for instance I don’t think they tow as much as commercial tugs so might also be a return or cost benefit – and simple is easier to maintain