Andrew Stafford, Technical Director at Trelleborg’s marine and infrastructure operation, UK, details the use of mooring tension data to ensure safety and longevity of equipment on vessels.
M
ooring a vessel is not a trivial matter. As mooring loads securing the vessel to a berth are held within the mooring ropes, failure of a mooring line can result in a significant amount of tensile energy being released in a very short period of time, potentially leading to safety issues. This article will explore how mooring equipment guidelines highlight the importance of gaining access to accurate data on the condition of mooring equipment to ensure the equipment’s safety and longevity on vessels. It will also discuss the incompatibility of legacy infrastructure and the alternate solutions available to keep the mooring interface operational within a fleet.
Updated mooring guidelines
Following several incidents, the Oil Companies Marine Forum (OCIMF) updated its flagship mooring guidelines in 2018 to Issue 4 (MEG4) to now include actions around mooring safety. One of these actions was replacing steel-wired mooring ropes on larger vessels throughout the shipping industry, with safer, synthetic ropes of equivalent strength, such as those constructed from high modulus polyethylene (HMPE). Whilst these newer designs are inherently safer under snapback conditions, knowing the status of a mooring line, its operational history,
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