Best Practice: The Application of Bulldog Clips

The Club’s Risk Assessors often note that bulldog clips, on board the ships that they visit, are incorrectly applied.

Bulldog Grips are commonly used in order to form a loop or “eye” in a wire rope.  The eye can be formed by using a thimble (hard eye) or by a simple wire loop (soft eye). They are used on ships on mast stays and crane wires, although swaged connections are now more common.  Bulldog clips are not to be used on lifeboat falls (and for any other purpose where life is at risk) but they are often found on bowsing - in tackles and on winch brake remote release wires. A more common usage is for the securing of project cargo, both under and below deck. The single most predominant factor associated with the failure of cargo lashings is the incorrect application of bulldog grips.

The attached article looks into the issues associated with bulldog grips.The loss prevention department aims to reduce Members’ exposure to claims by raising awareness of risk. Co-ordinated by the Loss Prevention team is a dedicated team of Risk Assessors.The Risk Assessors supervise and co-ordinate the activities of the five ship inspectors and control the condition surveys which are carried out (by independent surveyors) under the Club’s Rules. The Risk Assessors travel worldwide in order to carry out their tasks. Permanent bases are maintained in Rotterdam, Greece and Singapore. All the Ship Inspectors are qualified QA Lead Assessors and are familiar with the requirements of the ISM Code.  For more information on our Loss prevention team please contact: lossprevention.ukclub@thomasmiller.com