How to set an anchor?

If possible, avoid to drop anchors. They might land on the anchor wire and damage it. The anchor should be lowered in this way. Keep on heading away from the rig while lowering the anchor. Do not stop until you have paid out more length of pendant wire than the water depth.

Kinks in wires occur as a result of:

• Anchors hanging on the anchor wire with a slack pendant wire.
• Anchors hanging on the pendant wire with a slack anchor wire.

You can avoid kinks by always keeping some tension on both wires.


Never lower the anchor in this way



A swivel in the anchor cable is not the right solution. Due to the difference in lay length, the outer strands are longer than the steel inner core. By untwisting the wire, all the load will therefore be applied to the inner core, which will break and will damage the outer strands from the inside.

Due to the weight of the anchor, the pendant wire will untwist and the anchor will start spinning. This causes kinks in the anchor wire.