TOW is a useful application to assist planning and evaluating different towing scenarios. Towing resistance and available tug pull are estimated over a range of speeds based on the specified tug, tow vessel, and sea state condition. The maximum towing speed and tow resistance is then determined from the intersection of the two curves. The towing resistance is used to calculate the mean hawser tension and compare this tension to the permissible mean wire hawser tension, chain bridle tension, or other critical towline component tension.

Forces on large stationary tankers may also be calculated for different wind and current velocities and directions. The required tug BHP for station keeping is estimated.

A library of tugs can be developed to allow quick comparison of different tugs for tow planning. A default library is provided and the user may add new tugs to the library, or copy existing tugs. A library of vessels is also maintained in a similar manner. Vessels can be imported from SHP ship project files. The current tow plan, containing the current tug, towline, vessel, and sea state data can be saved to a disk for archiving purposes.