Ensuring reliable, uninterrupted operation of winches

ABB delivers dedicated winch solutions for the marine industry, from new builds to retrofit projects, designed for maximum efficiency, safety, and durability. Our drives, motors, PLCs and HMIs ensure smooth, precise control and dependable performance even in the harshest marine environments, withstanding heat, vibration, humidity, and saltwater exposure. As a global leader in drive solutions, ABB continues to set the standard for efficient, reliable, and future-ready marine operations.

 

Our marine approved ACS880 industrial drives deliver uncompromised reliability for the marine industry, ensuring smooth, continuous operation even in the toughest sea conditions while reducing maintenance, lowering costs, and keeping every mission running safely. The ACS880 drive is come with optional cyber security features to protect against potential threats and ensure safe, secure and reliable operation in the marine industry.

 

Working in close cooperation with winch manufacturers, we've incorporated our extensive experience into the drives that work with various marine and offshore winch types. You can use the control program as is, or customize to meet your specific needs. Pair our drives with our LV marine motors for a one-stop supplier that is backed by a global service and support network.

 

Winch types served:

- Deck machinery (anchoring and mooring) winches

- Tugboat towing winches

- RoRo ramp winches

- Active heave compensation (AHC) winches

- Spooling winches

- Offshore winches, umbilical winches and ROV hoisting machinery

- Spud winches

- Slipway winches for harbors

- Fishing trawling winches

- Auxiliary applications

Key benefits

Cyber security

<p>Our ACS880 drives are designed with robust cyber security features to protect against potential threats and ensure safe, secure and reliable operation in the marine industry.</p>

Energy and cost efficiency

<p>High-efficiency motor technologies and regenerative braking features reduce energy consumption, fuel use, and operational costs compared to hydraulic systems.</p>

Increased equipment uptime

<p>Smooth starting, accurate tension control, and robust motor-drive coordination help prevent cable and rope breakage and mechanical wear, leading to longer equipment life and fewer unplanned stops.</p>

Flexible integration

<p>Our drives and motors are certified for marine use and compatible with a wide range of winch types, including anchoring, mooring, towing, and heave compensation systems.</p>

Ready for modernization

<p>Upgrade existing electrical winch systems with ABB’s retrofit solutions to improve reliability, performance, and energy efficiency, without needing a full system replacement.</p>

Customizable and safe operation

<p>Built-in winch control programs support manual or automatic modes, and mechanical brake coordination, enhancing safety and giving operators full control in demanding conditions.</p>

Flexible and open winch control

<p>AC500 PLC enables reliable winch control with open connectivity for multiple protocols, easing integration and acting as a gateway to onboard systems.</p>

Dedicated winch functionality

<p>Our ACS880 drives include built-in winch and crane control functions, enabling precise torque and tension control while reducing system complexity and engineering effort.</p>

Freedom to choose the right motor technology

<p>ABB offers induction, permanent magnet, SynRM and PMaSynRM motors, optimizing winch performance.​ The motor portfolio provides key options such as mechanical brakes, encoders, and temperature protection to match specific application requirements.</p>

Certified for marine and offshore use​

<p>ABB drives, motors and control systems meet marine requirements and are certified by leading classification societies, ensuring compliance, reliability and easy acceptance.​</p>

Explore winch types

Our ACS880 N5100 software solution, purpose-built for deck machinery winches, enables optimized modes for anchor handling, hand mooring, and auto mooring operations. Combined with induction or SynRm motors, the system delivers outstanding torque control, efficiency, and reliability in demanding marine conditions.

 

With the built-in ACS880 winch application, you can reduce the amount of components and simplify system design. The solution also removes the need for motor encoders and load cells, while ABB’s Direct Torque Control (DTC) technology ensures precise torque definition and smooth, responsive rope handling.

Specifically designed for offshore machinery winch applications, ABB’s ACS880 N5800 software solution brings advanced functionality to your operations. It supports a wide range of winch types, including constant tension (CT) winches for demanding offshore applications such as umbilical and ROV handling. It integrates Active Heave Compensation (AHC) directly into the drives with an external MRU sensor interface, ensuring precise load control in demanding marine conditions. For tugboat operations, the solution includes dedicated push and escort winch modes to enhance maneuverability and safety. In addition, the closed-loop motor control application provides superior torque and speed accuracy, enabling reliable and efficient winch performance across all operating conditions.

Our ACS880 N6000 software solution is designed for electrical spooling winches, ensuring precise and reliable rope handling. The application features built-in rope guiding with both “side-by-side” and “layer-by-layer” modes, providing consistent spooling performance. With both open- and closed-loop motor control, it delivers accurate speed and torque management under all conditions. The system also offers a flexible main drum line reference interface, supporting D2D, AI/DI, fieldbus (PLC), and encoder connections. The result is a robust and adaptable winch solution that can be used in combination with any of the other winch applications.

The CT (Constant Tension) control program for winch applications, built on the ACS880 N6200 software platform, ensures reliable constant tension, keeping the rope force stable in all operating conditions, with or without a load-cell sensor. The solution offers multiple operating modes, including HAND, TIGHT-UP, AUTO CT, and POSITION, providing flexibility for different operational needs. The ACS880 N6200 platform delivers precise closed-loop motor control and built-in master-follower redundancy on the fly for multi-motor systems, making it ideal for demanding offshore applications such as umbilical and cable-laying winches.

The ACS880 N6150 software platform delivers robust control for auxiliary machinery drive systems, operating either as a standalone unit or in advanced master–follower mode. With built-in redundancy that enables seamless switching between master and follower, intelligent process controller (IPC) ensures uninterrupted performance in critical applications. Supporting both open- and closed-loop motor control and drive-to-drive communication across ACS880 drives, it provides precise, reliable operation for pumps, fans, compressors, and electrical steering gear systems. The solution allows for thruster steering or any other aux control onboard.

Flexible drive automation solutions

Discover the unmatched flexibility of ABB drives and how you can customize ABB drives to meet your needs precisely. We simplify complex systems and bring advanced process logic directly into the drive. Adaptive programming comes standard in every ABB drive.

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