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The assessment of a typical Caspian Convoy is here investigated for evaluating the dynamic loads in open water tow system during operations in storm weather conditions with the aim of obtaining the limiting wave heights for safe towing. The overall purpose of the assessment is to reduce the uncertainty of the dynamic loads to which towlines in tug + barge convoys are subject, thus making it possible a reduction in risk and safety factors applied to the towing system. When the dynamic tensions are small, this can lead to higher and safer towing speeds. Higher towing speeds shorten the time spent at sea, thus reducing exposure to severe environmental elements and diminishing the risk of towline failure. Search for higher safety in towing necessitates, as a preliminary input, the determination of the static forces in the towline at maximum attainable speed of the convoy.The analysis has been developed for several tugs and barges at the design load draft in service conditions where different sea states and related wind effects have been explicitly considered. The examined towing cases refer to the maximum attainable towing speed for several environmental conditions. The geometrical restrictions due to water depth on the convoy operability are included in the analysis.Keywords: seakeeping, convoys, towing,loads, operability