March 2026

Enhancing winch operations through early project planning

It's prudent to consider winches as key part of a spread during early project planning.

The core problem: late-stage winch planning

When winch planning isn’t addressed early in a project, positioning quickly becomes a challenge. By the time detailed discussions take place, deck space has often already been allocated to other equipment, limiting routing options, restricting safe working areas and resulting in compromises that require additional engineering to solve.

What could have been optimised through early engagement instead leads to redesigns, additional equipment or operational workarounds during mobilisation - when time really is money.

Why does this become an issue later in the project lifecycle

Winch operations, particularly wire routing on deck, are far more complex than they appear on paper. In reality, 2D deck plans may look workable, but they often fail to capture the true 3D challenges of routing wires.

Winches are frequently positioned in locations that seem logical but create clashes during operation. Poor positioning can lead to issues including: wire interference with other equipment or structural elements, insufficient space to maintain safe working distances for personnel and operational constraints that only become apparent during mobilisation.

This challenge is amplified by the continued drive for versatility on the back deck, where winches are often required to support multiple tasks and operations across a campaign. Ensuring the winch and wire are in the right place at the right time for each operation becomes increasingly difficult when early planning hasn’t accounted for the full operational picture.

With timely expert input, many of these challenges can be identified and eliminated before the winch package even reaches the vessel.

What the right approach looks like

The most effective solution is early engagement and rather than assessing winches in isolation, the entire deck spread should be viewed as a single, integrated system.

This means opening up back deck lifting and winch solutions to a broader team of specialists -engineers, technicians and operational experts, the people who really understand how equipment interacts in offshore conditions. By considering multiple operations, wire routes and interfaces from the outset, the deck configuration can be optimised to maximise safety, efficiency and flexibility. A key part of this process is clearly defining winch requirements as early as possible, including:

Load and capacity
Scope of work and operational demands
Preferred rope or wire type
Water depth to determine required rope length

Having this information allows engineers to select the most appropriate winch solution, avoiding both under- and over-specification. It also reduces the risk of operational limitations, excessive wear or unsafe working practices once offshore.

From an operational perspective, early planning improves efficiency across the wider asset spread. When winches are properly aligned with the vessel and surrounding equipment, operations run more smoothly, downtime is reduced and the risk of last-minute changes or mobilisation delays is significantly lowered. These are improvements at all stages of the project that directly benefit the schedule – and the bottom line.

Why MDL’s integrated approach works

With in-house engineering expertise and a deep understanding of offshore operations, we work closely with clients from the earliest stages to ensure the right equipment - whether that is a standalone winch package or a full back-deck spread - is selected.

MDL can deliver complete flexlay, cable lay and decommissioning spreads, integrating a range of equipment into efficient packages tailored to your vessel and operational scope, including:

Effective winch planning is about more than selecting the right piece of equipment. Engaging with our experts and considering the wider deck spread from the outset removes uncertainty and delivers solutions fully aligned with both operational and project requirements, simplifying planning and supporting reliable offshore operations.

Get in touch with our team to learn more about how MDL’s integrated winch and flexlay solutions can support your next offshore campaign.

Craig MacBeath, Technical Sales Manager