What maintenance practice can extend the life of the sweep and depressor wire rope?

End-for-ending the wire rope every 300 hours of total logged towing time is a crucial maintenance practice that helps to extend the life of the sweep and depressor wire rope. This process involves swapping the ends of the wire rope, which ensures that wear and tear is distributed more evenly across the entire length of the rope. Over time, rope can experience different levels of stress depending on its position and exposure to environmental factors. By regularly changing its configuration, the integrity of the wire rope is preserved, as it mitigates localized wear and extends its operational lifespan.

The other options, while they may address maintenance in various ways, do not provide the same level of benefit for prolonging the life specifically of the wire rope. Repainting does not affect the wire's structural integrity, replacing after a short month lacks the necessary focus on wear dynamics, and simply lubricating at intervals does not address the issue of uneven wear that end-for-ending does.