Mooring Operations Guidebook Vol 1

THENAVALARCH'S
GUIDEBOOK SERIES MOORING

OPERATIONS
GUIDE
VOLUME #1
A GUIDEBOOK OF SELECTED
TECHNICAL ARTICLES ON
MOORING
Over the years, TheNavalArch has been

supporting its customers, readers and
followers with technical content relevant to
their daily work. With the endeavor to bring
quality online content to the maritime
industry, we present to you our industry
guides - selected articles covering different
aspects of the industry - encompassing
maritime design and operattions.
In this guide, we bring to you a collection of
technical articles on mooring operations,
which is a critical and frequently encountered
aspect of Maritime industry. This guide will
be helpful for mooring engineers, port
captains, naval architects, and anyone else
interested in the fascinating engineering that
goes behind mooring operations.
TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

Table of Contents
01 OCIMF MEG-4 and Mooring Design of your vessels
02 Calculating a Ship’s Design MBL using OCIMF MEG-4
03 Mooring System Design and Analysis
Designing the berth mooring of your vessel with this

04
simple yet effective method
Understanding how buoys affect the catenary of a

05
mooring line
A simple method of selecting the right anchor for

06
mooring a tanker/gas carrier
07 Selecting the right Capstan for berthing a vessel
Vessel with Stern on Quay: A simplified method for

08 mooring design
OCIMF MEG-4 and Mooring Design of your vessels
Environment and Environmental forces

The OCIMF (Oil Companies International Marine Forum) has come out with the latest edition of
mooring Equipment Guidelines (MEG) – Rev 4. This revision incorporates significant changes
and updates over the MEG-3, the third Edition. The changes include, besides other additions, a
guidance on documentation of mooring equipment (Mooring System Management Plan),
addition of a section on human factors in mooring operations, and significant updates to the
Appendix A for calculating environmental forces on tankers/gas carriers.
Mooring in the context of MEG-4 means mooring to a fixed structure like a berth, jetty, terminal
or another ship.

Mooring Forces and Mooring Design
In simplest terms, mooring involves tying
the vessel to a berth using ropes so that
the vessel stays in place and is not carried
away by the environment. The
environment may comprise wind, current,
tides, waves, ice, swell etc. which the
berth is subject to.
Hence, the steps to designing a mooring

system can be:
The design of mooring at berth can be broken down

Step 1: Get the environmental data
into a certain number of steps by thinking in very basic
for the berth – wind, wave, current,
terms.
tide etc.
Step 2: Calculate, based on the size
The problem at hand is - we are given a vessel, and we
and geometry of the vessel, the total
need to moor it to a berth. The first question which
environmental forces on the vessel
pops is why at all we need to berth the vessel? Why
Step 3: Design a mooring system
can’t we just leave it floating? Well, if we leave it
comprising ropes and equipment
floating, it is subject to environmental elements of
adequate for resisting the
wind, current, waves, tides etc. These will make it
environmental forces obtained in
drift, with the possibility of hitting another vessel in
Step 2. This includes designing the
the vicinity.
mooring pattern and selecting the
right equipment.
The next thought that comes is: what’s the best way to
secure it to a berth? The simplest solution we can
imagine is using ropes to tie it to strong and fixed Step 1 – Environmental data
structures on the berth. A ship needs equipment like
bollards, fairleads and winches which can help secure The application of environmental data
the rope from ship to the mooring equipment on the depends on the purpose which we’re
berth. using it. If we’re designing the mooring
equipment of a specific berth or terminal,
So, how do we go about selecting the right sized rope? then the environment experienced at that
What about the bollards, fairleads and winches on the specific berth is important. This is
vessel? How big should they be? It is natural to expect obtained from Metocean data for the
that a bigger ship will require bigger sized equipment specific berth location.
(bollard, winches, fairleads etc.) and ropes to secure it.
How could we devise a method to do it?

However, things are different if we’re designing the For the purpose of mooring design, it is
mooring equipment for a ship (which is what this generally recommended to investigate two
article talks about). A ship may visit multiple berths extreme conditions:
over its lifetime, and each berth may be subject to
different environments. Does that mean that we gather Fully loaded condition at lowest
the environmental data of each berth the ship is astronomical tide (LAT)
expected to visit over its lifetime, and then take the Ballasted condition at highest
worst-case environment? Such an exercise will be astronomical tide (HAT)
extremely cumbersome.
MEG-4 provides a simple solution: Section 3 of

Water Depth to Draft Ratio
MEG-4 provides the ‘Standard’ environmental criteria
which are to be used for ships. These criteria cover a The ratio of Water Depth (WD) to Draft
wide range of environmental conditions and can be (T) is a critical parameter affecting the
used for the mooring design. However, these are current forces on a vessel. OCIMF
applicable only for vessels with DWT 16000 MT and recommends the following values to be
above. The criteria are shown below: used for the WD/T ratio:
For tankers, WD/T to be taken as 1.05

when loaded and 3.0 when in ballast
condition
For a gas carrier the WD/T should be
taken as 1.05 for all conditions
We can see here that there will be multiple

cases for which the forces have to be
Loading Conditions and tidal variations calculated.
Since the wind of 60 knots can be from any

The ship may be loaded to different drafts, which direction, simultaneously with current from
leads to different windage and current areas. For either head/following seas or beam seas, we
example, when the vessel is ballasted, it has a higher need to investigate all cases while varying
windage area and so the wind forces are expected to the direction of current from 0 to 360 deg,
be higher compared to other loading conditions with and also varying the loading condition
higher draft. Similarly, fully loaded condition with (ballast/loaded). To simplify, we can create
fetch higher current forces compared to other loading cases by considering wind and current to be
conditions. collinear (along the same direction), and
investigate the cases listed below:

The cases are listed below:
The force coefficients provided in

MEG-4 follow a specific sign-
convention as per the figure below:
The coefficients can be obtained

Now that we have defined the environmental conditions –
from the charts and tables provided
wind and current, which also included the loading
in Appendix A of OCIMF MEG-4.
conditions and water depth to draft ratio, we can move on
to the next step: calculation of environmental forces.
Step 2 – Environmental forces

At a berth, generally it is only wind and current forces
which significantly impact the design of moorings.
The environmental forces on the vessel can be calculated

using the force coefficients provided in Appendix A of
OCIMF MEG-4. These tables provide the coefficients for
Wind and Current forces depending on the vessel heading,
loading condition (ballasted/loaded) and also the Water
Depth to Draft ratio. At this stage, and for the purpose of
this article, waves and other factors which are ‘dynamic’ in
nature (i.e., which cause time-varying forces on the ship)
are not considered, and the analysis is limited to a ‘static’
analysis.
The environmental force coefficients comprise the

following: Next, we calculate, for all cases
Surge force or longitudinal force – wind and current listed in Step 1, the environmental
forces faced by the fore or aft of the vessel forces of wind and current (forces
Sway force or transverse force – wind and current and moments).
forces faced by the beam of the vessel
Yaw moment – wind and current yaw moment which
makes the vessel turn about its vertical axis
The forces are obtained from the coefficients by using the standard formulae:
Once we have the environmental forces, the next step is to design/select the mooring equipment
based on the forces obtained.
Once we have the environmental forces, the next step is to design/select the mooring equipment
based on the forces obtained.
Mooring equipment can be the following:
Mooring lines and shackles

Bollards
Fairleads
Winches
Each mooring equipment is specified by its Safe Working Load (SWL), which is what we need to
determine.
OCIMF provides a simple approach to calculating the SWL once environmental forces are
calculated.
OCIMF proposes calculation of a parameter called the ‘Ship’s Design MBL’.
In Part 2, we’ll look into what is Ship’s Design MBL, and also how the mooring pattern for the
vessel can be designed.

Calculating a Ship's Design
MBL using OCIMF MEG-4
In Part 1 of this article, we saw a step by step guide
to calculate the Environmental forces on a vessel
based on “Standard” environmental criteria defined
in Section 3 of OCIMF Mooring Equipment
Guidelines Fourth Edition (MEG-4) in order to
determine the ship’s design MBL which in turn can
be used to size the various components of the
MEG4 provides the below guidelines for a
vessel’s mooring system, like bollards, fairleads and
generic mooring line layout.
winches. Various parameters like loading
Breast mooring lines should be at an angle
conditions, tidal variations, WD/T ratio etc. were
less than 15o to the perpendicular axis of
discussed and calculation of wind and current forces
the ship.
on the vessel based on coefficients was presented.
Spring mooring lines should be at an angle
less than 10o to the side of the ship.
In Part 2 of the article we will look into how to
Maximum vertical angles of 25 degrees
1. Select a generic mooring line layout
should be assumed for the lightest
2. Calculate static Equilibrium of the vessel and
ballasted condition.
stiffness of mooring line layout
3. Determine Ship design MBL Static Equilibrium
A vessel subject to environmental forces/moments
Mooring Pattern will move in the forward or transverse directions
or rotate about the vertical axis i.e. the vessel will
The vessel mooring pattern is to be designed to have surge, sway or yaw respectively. The vessel
effectively counter the environmental forces from motion will change the relative distance of the
any direction. This means that the lines should be fairlead from the shore anchor point, changing the
able to cope horizontal as well as transverse loads. length of the mooring lines. The lines, generally
The mooring pattern should therefore have lines speaking, behave like a spring and the force
along longitudinal direction to prevent motion in exerted is proportional to the change in length of
forward and aft directions and also in the the line. This characteristic of the lines can be
transverse direction to prevent motion away from found from the data sheet of the line from the
the berth. The longitudinal lines are knows as manufacturer. The change in length of the lines
spring lines and the transverse lines are known as increases the tensions in the lines and the
breast lines. The pattern also depends on the combined load exerted by all the lines then
provisions at the terminal and it should be chosen, balances the total environmental loading. This
condition of the vessel where the environmental
as much as possible, to keep the spring lines
loading is balanced by the mooring lines is known
parallel and breast lines perpendicular to the ship
as static equilibrium.
length.

Ship design MBL calculation
A simple spring formulation can be applied to evaluate the translations/rotations of the vessel in
static equilibrium under the effect of the calculated environmental loads. Once a mooring system
for the vessel at the berth has been chosen, for given position of the vessel the change in length of
each mooring line with respect to its initial (un-stretched) length can be calculated using a simple
spring formulation F = k δL where F is the line tension, k is the stiffness of the line and δL is the
change in line length. Tension in each line can be aggregated to get the net loading on the vessel.
Hence we can calculate the translation/rotation of the vessel that will result in unit force/moment
on the vessel by the mooring lines. Let’s call this the inverse stiffness k’. If k’ is displacement
produced by unit force on the vessel, the total displacement X produced by the net environmental
loading F can be calculated as X = F k’. The new position for the ship can be used to re-calculate
the net mooring loads on the vessel and compared to the environmental forces and the whole
process can be repeated until static equilibrium is achieved. The total length of the mooring line
from winch to bollard should be used in the calculations. Also the stiffness of the lines change with
use and the calculations should use the stiffness of used lines instead of new lines. The above can
be summarized in below steps,
1. Calculate total environmental forces/moments on the vessel in surge, sway and yaw directions.
E.g. Fx is the net environmental force in the surge direction
2. Determine the inverse stiffness of the mooring system in terms of amount of surge/sway/yaw
per unit force/moment. E.g. k’ m/N is the stiffness of the vessel in surge direction.
3. Calculate the total amount of surge/sway/yaw. E.g. Surge (m)= Fx * k’
4. Calculate the resultant mooring forces based on the new position. E.g. Rx is the net mooring
force in the surge direction.
5. Compare the environmental forces and resultant mooring forces i.e. Fx = Rx?
6. Several iterations of steps 2-5 may be required until static equilibrium is achieved.
Once static equilibrium is achieved, maximum mooring restraint force can be determined and used
in the flowchart below, provided by MEG4, to calculate the ship design Minimum Breaking Load
i.e. Ship design MBL. With the vessel in static equilibrium, the tensions in each mooring line can
be determined. Since there are several components in the mooring pattern that support multiple
mooring lines, the total loading on such component can be used to calculate the Ship design MBL
as

The ship design MBL is the MBL of a new, dry mooring line for which a ships mooring system is
designed and that meets the mooring restraint requirements as defined in MEG4, section 3. All
other components of a ship’s mooring system are based on this ship design MBL, with defined
tolerances.
It must be noted that static analysis may only be suitable for benign environment as we are
assuming the lines as simple springs. In other cases dynamic analysis for the vessel motions and
line tensions should be performed.
The steps above are also lined out in OCIF MEG-4, and shown in the figure below.
Ship's Design MBL Calculation Steps (Source: OCIMF MEG-4)
In Part 3, we will further look into using this Ship design MBL for line selection and to determine
D/d ratio (bend dia/rope dia) of mooring line and other parameters.

Mooring System Design and Analysis
As the offshore industry moves towards greater technological advancements, one thing that has
plagued the engineers is the “plug and play” computer programs or software. I am not against any
software as such, and in fact, I am a big fan and power user of Bentley’s MOSES program. What I do
not like is engineers blindly feeding inputs in the software to get outputs without actually
understanding the theory behind engineering problem at hand. Engineers these days spend more time
on mastering the software manual then the actual theory itself. I have been extremely fortunate to be
mentored by some of the best Engineers/Managers/Professors in both industry and academia. As a
passionate Naval Architect, I have always had a deep interest in the interaction of floating/fixed
bodies with sea waves. In an attempt to share my knowledge of offshore installation engineering, I am
going to write a series of articles on various offshore engineering analysis. The target audience is
fellow Naval Architects, Engineers, Project Managers and anyone interested in learning about the
field. As these articles will be targeted for the audience from diverse backgrounds, I will try to keep
things as simple as possible. I will use Bentley’s MOSES as the prime software and get into the
details of inputs and outputs. I recently delivered a training session to a group of structural engineers
on the topic “Mooring Analysis and Design,” and I have chosen the same topic for my first article.
Mooring System Fundamentals
A mooring system comprises a floating body (or collection of bodies) which are connected to the sea
floor (or terminals) by a system of lines that provide restoring forces against external loads. The
General purpose of mooring lines is:
To keep the body in reasonable proximity of some target location (Station Keeping).
To operate in deep water (Drilling Rigs, FPSOs, TLPs, ).
To allow re-location of the units such as pipe laying barges.
To check clearance with other units or pipelines during drilling campaigns or installation
procedures.
Loading/Unloading operations.

Mooring System Classification
Mooring systems are broadly classified into two

categories namely slack (or catenary) mooring system
and taut mooring system as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3: Restoring forces – Taut Mooring
Ever wondered why slack mooring is also

called as catenary mooring? It is easy to
Figure 1: Taut Mooring vs. Catenary Mooring
mathematically prove that any line/chain
(Source: Chakrabarti, S. K. (2005). Handbook of
suspended under its self weight assumes a
offshore engineering. Amsterdam: Elsevier.) It is shape of a geometric curve called
important to understand the fundamental differences catenary. The geometry of the offshore
between the two as the restoring forces generated in slack mooring line is the same as a chain
both are due to different mechanisms. In slack suspended between two poles. The only
(catenary) mooring lines the restoring forces are difference is that one end of the offshore
mainly due to the result of a change in suspended mooring line is connected to the anchor
weight of lines whereas in taut mooring the restoring and another end to the fairlead of the
forces are generated primarily due to the result of the floating body. Also, the offshore mooring
elasticity of the line. Below figures demonstrates the line has buoyancy and hydrodynamic
difference between taut mooring and catenary forces acting on it unlike in case of a chain
mooring. suspended in air between two poles. I have
pointed out this similarity between
offshore mooring line and a chain
suspended between two poles to illustrate
the simplicity of the problem at hand. The
physics behind mooring line behavior is
not different from that of a suspended
chain in the air.
Figure 2: Restoring forces – Catenary Mooring

In the below figure let’s assume that the
length of the chain is S and weight per unit
length is W. The Tension on each side of the
pole is same as T (due to symmetry) and the
angle it makes with horizontal is Փ. Now
balancing forces in vertical direction gives us :
2 T Sin Փ = WS T = WS/2 Sin Փ
The mooring pattern of the barge is symmetric

about X and Y axis as shown in the Figure 5. The
horizontal distance between fairlead and anchor
point is considered to be 1000m for each line. It
should be noted that the mooring pattern will not
always be as pretty in the real world. There may
be subsea assets (pipelines, manifolds, etc.) in the
vicinity and therefore the length and orientation of
Figure 4: Chain suspended between two poles – Catenary
each line may differ. Engineers must strive to keep
the mooring pattern as symmetrical as possible for
better load distribution.
Mooring System Design
and Analysis
Now that we understand the basic difference
between taut mooring and catenary mooring
lines let’s look at the design and analysis
aspects of a mooring system. Let’s assume a
simple scenario of a barge moored by 8 point
catenary mooring system. To analyze this
system in any software, we need to input the
properties of each mooring line and barge
system. One of the best software’s out there is
Bentley’s MOSES software. I like working in
MOSES due to its inbuilt coding language
environment which makes it possible to look at
different scenarios and be creative with the
problem at hand. Below are the inputs
provided in MOSES software.

Now before analyzing this mooring system let From a mathematical point of view, it is useful to
us look at the things which we have some see the restoring force due to mooring vs. the
control over, during the actual field operation. barge excursion. Figure 8 plots the mooring
The anchor drop location and therefore the system restoring force due to barge excursion in
length of each mooring line can be changed. the X direction (Refer to Figure 5) for different
The individual mooring lines can be tended pre-tension. As we know that the pre-tensions in
based on the direction of environmental forces. each mooring line can be increased or decreased
The mooring tension in the line can be by the deck crew by operating the winches. It can
increased/ decreased by paying out/in line be seen that higher the pre-tension the stiffer the
from the winch. Below Figure 7 illustrates the system, i.e., lesser excursion for the same amount
effect of line tension on the catenary profile of of force. However, the higher stiffness also
any one mooring line. As the tension is means higher line forces and risk of breaking of
increased (line length reduced) more length of highest loaded lines. Therefore, we need to keep
the line is lifted off the seabed. For slack a balance between barge stiffness vs. excursion
condition, the whole length of the line is laying to ensure safe mooring design.
on the seabed whereas for 200 MT tension the
entire line is off the seabed. The Delta Flipper
type anchor can only take loads in the
horizontal direction, and therefore it will not
hold ground for 200 MT line tension. From
this exercise, we get a good idea of tension
limitations on each line from anchor uplift
point of view. It is to be noted that line
tension/ geometry of line will also change with
the change in horizontal distance between
anchor and fairlead.
Up until now, we have talked about the

characteristics of internal forces generated by the
mooring system, i.e., the restoration forces. In
the following section, we will discuss the
external excitation forces on the barge mooring
system. Any floating body in the sea is subject to
some, or possibly all of the following loads:
Winds
Now that we have looked at the characteristics
Current
of the individual lines, the next step is to study
Waves/ Swell
the characteristics of the whole barge mooring
Tides
system.

For all practical purposes the environmental forces due to winds, current and mean wave forces can
be considered as static and are easy to deal with using static analysis. The total forces due to static
components are calculated and equated to the restoring force to calculate total barge excursion from
mean position. One thing which is very crucial for Engineers is to have a “feel” of the magnitude of
environmental force for a given size of the barge and operational sea states. A great resource that
every Engineer should refer to when analyzing a mooring system is OCIMF – Mooring Equipment
Guidelines 3rd Edition. Appendix A of this document provides detailed calculations for calculating
environmental forces due to wind and currents. Now that we have talked about static forces the next
step is to look at the dynamic forces due to waves and swells. In a typical mooring analysis in
MOSES, the hydrodynamic model of the vessel is created to perform the analysis to identify the
optimum mooring configuration. The software considers steady state loading from current, wind
and wave drift and oscillatory loading from direct waves and low frequency components of
wave/wind drift. The required hydrodynamic database is generated using the ‘three diffraction
theory. The analysis is performed in the time domain. The expected peak values of the barge
motion, excursion and line tensions are derived from a computer simulation time of 1200-1800
seconds using input sea spectra (such as JONSWAP, ISSC, etc.). The analysis is usually performed
for eight headings (head, stern, beam, quartering seas) as shown in Figure 5. In order to calculate
maximum excursions and forces the loads due to wind, wave and currents are applied collinearly for
each heading. The mooring analysis is performed for Intact and Damaged condition as shown in
Table 3.

The predicted maximum mooring tensions and Figure 9 shows the mooring line tensions for
excursion results of mooring analysis in MOSES the environment in which the highest tension
are summarized in Table 4 and Table 5 occurs in line S2. Figure 10 shows the barge
respectively. It is no surprise that maximum tension excursion in the Y direction for the same
occurs for beam seas where the largest underwater case.
and above water surface area is exposed to winds,
waves, and current.
Once the intact case is analyzed, the next

step is to study the mooring system for one
line damaged condition. In damaged case,
the time domain simulation is run for top
three load cases that generated the highest
line tension in the intact condition.

Remember damaged condition aims to find out maximum tension and excursion that would occur if
any one line is damaged. In our example, the damaged case is analyzed for Hs = 2m, Tp = 5.1
seconds, Heading 90 deg., and line S2 is considered damaged. The maximum line tensions from
MOSES time domain simulation in the damaged case are plotted below in Figure 11. It can be seen
that line S1 that is adjacent to S2 takes the maximum load when S2 is damaged.
The maximum loads and excursions obtained from analysis should be within maximum allowable
limits as per guidelines such as APIRP-2SK. The maximum loads should not exceed the “weakest
link” of the Mooring system. I would like to conclude by emphasizing that Mooring analysis and
design is an iterative process dependent on environmental as well as operational constraints.
Engineers should exercise due diligence while analyzing any mooring pattern for the safety of crew
and offshore assets. Feel free to share this article and post comments if any. Until next time, have a
great day.
Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the
author and do not necessarily represent those of TheNavalArch Pte Ltd and its employees

by Team TheNavalArch | May 12, 2020 | Marine Operations, Mooring
Designing the berth mooring of

your vessel with this simple yet
effective method
A possible berth mooring
A vessel at berth experiences much lower arrangement
forces compared to a vessel in the open sea
For any configuration of
due to the milder environment, but it still
mooring adopted, the design
requires a mooring configuration suited to
has to be adequate to restrain
the forces it experiences, and also suitable
the forces which the vessel
for the type of berthing configuration
experiences. In this article, we
adopted. The berthing configuration
will analyze the configuration
depends on the geometry of the berth, and
with Port or Starboard on Quay
also on the available space depending on
in more detail, and present a
the traffic at the berth and size of the
simplified method for
vessel. The most widely used berthing
calculating the line loads for
configuration is one with the vessel's Port
such a mooring pattern.
or Starboard side aligned with the Quay.

Thinking in very basic terms, the vessel will have its Port or Starboard pressing against the
Quay (with fenders between the vessel and Quay to take the load). This vessel will be
subjected to environmental loads coming from the fwd/aft end (longitudinal) and beam
side of the vessel (athwartship) which will tend to drift it off away from the berth. A simple
way is to tie the vessel to the quay side using ropes, and there could be many ways and
configurations to do it.
We’ll be following a guideline developed by US Navy called DDS-582 to explain the

method. Though DDS-582 has now been superseded by another document Mil-HDBK-
1026_4a_Mooring Design, the principles outlined in DDS-582 are still effective and a
good source of learning.
Calculation Steps
Get the vessel's dimensions and cargo dimensions

Get the environmental parameters of the Quay - wind speed and current speed (waves have been
ignored)
Calculate all the environmental forces on the vessel by using standard physical formulae and
coefficients provided in DDS-582
When calculating the wind and current forces, the standard physics formula of Force = Pressure x
Area shall be used. In the method by DDS-582, wave forces have not been considered for doing
the calculation.
For wind force, the formula is Fwind = 1/2 x Cwind x ρwind x Vwind2 x Awind, where Cwind is
the coefficient of wind force, ρwind is the density of air, Vwind is the wind speed, and Awind is
the total area of ship and cargo which is exposed to the wind from head or beam direction (the
above-water area)
Similarly, for current force, the formula is Fcurrent = 1/2 x Ccurrent x ρwater x Vcurrent2 x
Aunderwater, where Ccurrent is the coefficient of current force, ρwater is the density of water,
Vcurrent is the current speed, and Aunderwater is the total underwater area of ship which is
exposed to the current from head or beam direction.
The forces need to be calculated for both the directions: head wind and beam wind

Catenary Principle
A mooring line is just a suspended
cable and so the shape it assumes is
catenary shape. The weight of the
suspended length of the cable
translates into tension at either ends.
For offshore mooring line the cable is
anchored on the seabed and attached
to the structure on top. If the vessel
moves, the catenary shape changes
there by changing the tensions in the
line. The further the top end is from
the anchor, the larger is the
Understanding how buoys affect suspended length and hence the
the catenary of a Mooring line tension is larger. This increased
tension acts as a restoring force
(stiffness) to the motions of the
What is a mooring line? structure. The lines are laid out in a
symmetric pattern to provide stiffness
Mooring lines generally comprise ropes, wires, in all directions. Also the change in
chains or combination of wire and chain used to tension with offset of the structure is
keep ships, offshore platforms and other floating non-linear i.e. as the structure moves
vessels in position. It connects the structure either farther and farther, the rate of
to the seabed using an anchor or the quay side increase in tension is larger and
using a bollard and prevents the vessel from larger. Thus the structure remains
drifting away due to loading from waves, winds within a region for a given
and current. Offshore moorings are typically used environment and the footprint of the
for drilling and production platforms and their structure’s offset is called a watch
configuration depends on the water depths. For circle.
small water depths, e.g. below 300 m, a chain only
line may be used but as we go deeper, the required
length of the mooring line increases and it
becomes hard for the vessel to support the weight
of the chain. Hence a lighter alternative of a chain-
wire-chain composite line is used. The line has
chains at each end to be able to connect to the
anchor (end on seabed) and the chain stopper (end
on structure). For ultra-deep waters, a polyester
rope is used in between chains to further reduce
the weight.
it is important to understand the catenary shape in Since for an offshore mooring line, one of
order to design the moorings and choose the right the ends is anchored to the seabed and if
material properties of the line that will allow the correctly designed, the line will always
structure to remain within limits of operation and have a certain length on the ground, we can
also keep the loading on the line well below its assume that the vertical component of the
breaking limit. The factor of safety associated with tension at the anchor is zero. At the
the design of mooring lines is defined in standards touchdown point, where the line leaves the
from API and DNV, but will not be discussed here. ground and becomes suspended, the
vertical component of tension will also be
zero.
Pretension
From the equations below we will see that
the distance of the fairlead from the anchor
and the length of the line paid out
determines the tension in the line. If the
vessel is assumed to be in static equilibrium
without any external loads, this tension is
called pretension. Pretension for a mooring
system has to be chosen appropriately to
achieve the desired watch circle. A lower
pretension will result in lower max tensions
in the line but the offsets will be large
Catenary equation while a higher pretension will result in
large max tensions with smaller offset.
Let’s get into the math behind a catenary shape. A Hence it has to be tuned appropriately to
cable suspended from two points will have its achieve the desired performance of the
weight supported by the reactions at the two mooring system while not risking damage
points. This net reaction is the same as the tension to the line.
in the line at that point. The tension at any point in
the line can be divided into its horizontal and
vertical components.
Boundary Conditions
We will focus on offshore mooring lines and use
the boundary conditions suited for this application.
We will also assume that the line is non-
stretchable such that the catenary effect is only due
to the weight of the line.

Assume a section anywhere in the suspended
section of the line as show in the figure below.
Each end has the tension components and the
weight of the section acts vertically down wards. If
the line is static, the forces should be balanced.
Which means the horizontal tensions (Th) at the
two ends are equal while the vertical tension (Tv) If we assume the origin at the touchdown
at the top end is larger than the vertical tension at point such that the boundary condition at x =
the lower end by the weight of the section. Below 0 are,
equations show the force balance for this section in
the vertical direction.
y' here is the slope of the catenary line at

horizontal position x. Since the line rests
tangent to the ground at x=0, the slope of the
where w is the weight per unit length of the line.
catenary y’ is also 0. Using this condition in
From Fig. 5,
Eq. 5 yields C = 0. Further integrating Eq. 5
and using the boundary conditions from Eq. 6
gives the catenary shape i.e. y coordinate of
the line for a given x and horizontal tension.
Substituting Eq. 1 in Eq. 2
These results can be substituted back in Eq. 4

and integrated to get an expression for s or
Substituting Eq. 4 in Eq. 3 and integrating we can
arc length for a given x.
derive the equation for the catenary shape.
Assume a section anywhere in the suspended

It should be noted here that the x coordinate
in the equations above are measured from the
touchdown point and the vertical tension at
the touchdown point will always be 0 since
If we assume the origin at the touchdown point
the equations are derived for this boundary
such that the boundary condition at x = 0 are,
conditions (Eq. 6).

How to solve
Lets say we have line length of 300 m, the anchor is 200 m away from the fairlead and the
vertical separation between anchor and fairlead is 100 m. We start with some initial
values of line length on ground and horizontal tension Th. Subtracting the line length on
ground from the total length will give us the suspended length s. This can be used in Eq. 8
to get the calculated horizontal position x of the fairlead. Using this x in Eq. 7 gives us the
calculated vertical position of the fairlead. If the calculated position of the fairlead is
different from the required position i.e. (200, 100) from the anchor, the process has to
iterated again by suitably changing the length on ground and horizontal tension. This
problem of minimizing the error between calculated and target fairlead positions by
changing length on ground and Th can be easily setup using an Excel Solver.
The above equations assume that the line is homogeneous i.e. the line is made of a single
material like all chain or all wire. For composite lines that are combination of different
line types like chain-wire-chain, each segment’s catenary equations have to be solved
maintaining the continuity of the boundary conditions at the joints.
Catenary with a buoy

Simply put a buoy is just a floating device tethered to the seabed and used in several
applications like
marking specific locations in the sea, e.g. ship wreck, limits, divers
as a light demarcation for navigation at night,
as a measurement device with several sensors to measure, wave height, temperature
etc.
Mooring of ships
For an offshore mooring line, a buoy could be used for

Single Point Mooring (SPM) where a surface buoy is moored to the sea bed and the
vessel is tethered to the buoy using hawsers,
or as a part of a hybrid mooring line where the buoy is attached along the line length.
This is done either to change the stiffness characteristics of the line or get more
clearance from nearby structures, pipelines etc.
The boundary conditions for a SPM is no different than a simple catenary but a hybrid line
needs to consider additional boundary conditions and have been discussed below.

Boundary conditions at Buoy
Solving the static equilibrium condition for a It should be noted here that while
mooring line with buoy is very similar to solving solving for the catenary segments, not
the catenary equations as discussed above. If we all segments will touch the ground.
have a single buoy the line is considered to be made The above equations (Eq. 1 - 8) are
of two catenaries and each catenary is solved derived for the boundary conditions
individually. Additionally, the boundary conditions where the segment is touching the
at the buoy i.e. horizontal and vertical forces are ground such that the tangent (y') of
also to be satisfied. Fig. 6 shows the forces at the the segment at the ground is zero.
buoy connection point. Th1 and TV1 are horizontal This may not be true for the segments
and vertical forces due to one segment and Th2 and with buoy and the correct boundary
TV2 are horizontal and vertical forces due to the conditions have to be used.
other segment respectively. Since no external forces
are considered here, Th1 and Th2 must be equal Conclusion
while the sum of the vertical forces, Tv1 + Tv2
We saw in the article above how to
should balance the nett buoyancy (Bbuoy - wbuoy)
derive the equations for a catenary
from the buoy.
shape with a length on the ground and
the boundary conditions that apply if
a buoy is attached to the line. the
equations can be easily used to
calculate the shape of the line and the
tensions anywhere in the line.
However, the calculations can become
quite complicated as the number of
segments in the line increase and if
there are multiple buoys.
The Naval Arch offers two

applications to solve the above
equations and also includes more
complex boundary conditions to solve
for realistic scenarios. Both the apps
offer to solve for multiple segmented
line while one of them also offers
Fig. 6: Boundary conditions at a Buoy including buoys along the line length.
The apps are listed below with links
to their product page.

A simple method of selecting
the right anchor for mooring
a tanker/gas carrier
Anchoring is a fundamental and sensitive operation
for a vessel. When a vessel is at anchor, it swings
to align itself along the direction of the dominant
environment. The anchor is supposed to hold the
vessel in varying environmental conditions
depending on where the vessel is being anchored.
Thus, it is critical to know if the anchor has enough
holding power when the weather goes inclement.
While vessel masters have reliable experience in
knowing the holding power of their vessels and
decide based on their invaluable practical
knowledge, an estimate of the forces which the
vessel is experiencing in a particular weather is
always useful in knowing whether the anchor can
hold or not, helping in critical decision making on
whether to remain at anchor or let go - thus saving
the vessel from a potential damage of anchoring
systems.
In this article we will present a simple method

based to estimate the holding power required for an
anchor operating in a given environmental
condition. The method is based on OCIMF's
publication 'Estimating The Environmental Loads
On Anchoring Systems'.
Basically, the two steps involved are:
Step 1 : Calculating the wind, current and wave

load on the vessel to give the total environmental
load
Step 2: Selecting the right anchor with holding

power sufficient to take the total environmental
load

Applicability and Assumptions
An anchoring system is subjected to the three the data presented refers to the static
primary environmental loads - Wind, Wave and condition. It should be noted that
Current. The simple outline of the method is to find dynamic effects (e.g. yawing, pitching)
out what these loads are, sum them up and check if can result in forces in the anchor
the anchor has enough holding power to overcome system being 2 or 3 times higher than
the combined environmental loads. the estimated static forces.
the environmental forces are
However, the method is NOT universally applicable considered as individual components
to all types of vessels, and is limited only to Oil that are summed to provide a total
Tankers or Gas Carriers with accommodation force. Interaction effects between the
located aft. The method can be used for tankers forces are not considered.
down to a DWT of 16000 MT. Further, only a static the vessel is lying to a single anchor.
condition has been considered for calculation of the anchored vessel is in a steady
forces. This means that the effects of the vessel's position, having swung at anchor in the
own motion (pitching, heaving etc.) have been direction of the dominant
ignored. The vessel is considered as static while the environmental force or has reached an
environmental forces of wind, wave and current act equilibrium position.
on it. It is to be noted that dynamic effects can have the vessel lies at anchor such that the
a multiplier effect on the forces obtained from the lead of the anchor chain is parallel to
static condition. The method also ignores the the centreline of the vessel. As a result,
interaction among the three forces, and assumes that only the longitudinal components of
the vessel is lying to a single anchor and the wind, waves and current forces
longitudinally aligned with the anchor chain. Thus, need be considered.
all the three forces of wind, current and wave need to wave drift forces have been estimated
be considered only in the longitudinal direction of using a Pierson-Moskowitz sea
the vessel. Catenary effects of the mooring chain are spectrum.
ignored. the catenary effect of the anchor chain
is not considered
However, there are some important assumptions
which the method relies upon. These are:
• the vessel is an oil tanker or an LNG carrier

(spherical or prismatic) with accommodation aft
• environmental forces acting on the vessel
comprise:
- wind
- current
-waves (mean wave drift force).

Step 1: Calculating the
environmental loads
Wind and Current Forces
The environmental loads of wind and current are

estimated from the non-dimensional coefficient
curves provided in the OCIMF document, which
in turn are taken from OCIMF Mooring
Equipment Guidelines (MEG). The OCIMF
document on anchoring refers to MEG Edition 3;
however, MEG has been updated to Edition 4,
and the same shall be referred to in this article. Current and Wind Coefficients taken from
OCIMF MEG-4
The wind coefficients depend upon Once the wind and current drag coefficients
the wind angle of attack are obtained, the standard physical
the type of bow - conventional/cylindrical equations can be used to determine the
loading condition of the vessel - ballasted or applicable forces. Only the forces in
fully loaded longitudinal direction are considered. The
formulas are presented below:
The current coefficients depend upon
the current angle of attack
the ratio of Water Depth to Draft of the vessel
Wind Force Formula

Wave drift forces - these are calculated from three dimensional surface plots. The surface plots
provide the wave force in tonnes, depending upon the two parameters of Singnificant Wave Height
and Mean Wave Period which can be obtained from the environmental data (nautical
charts/Metocean data) of the location under consideration.
These wave loads are only the longitudinal forces which act on the vessel when the vessel is at
anchor (since the vessel aligns itself along the environment). However, in the case the vessel is
yawing, transverse forces also come into play which can be multiple times higher than longitudinal
forces, and need to be accounted for in the force on anchor. As a thumb rule, for 20 degrees yaw, the
longitudinal force obtained from the surface plot is multiplied by 2; for 40 degrees yaw, the force is
multiplied by 3.

The table from OCIMF (reproduced below)
Step 2: Calculating the gives the typical anchor weights for Tankers
anchor holding power and and Gas carriers of different sizes.
selecting the right anchor
The next step is to calculate the anchor holding

power from the environmental forces. Let's say
the total environmental force Fenv has been
calculated:
Typical Anchor Weights for tankers and gas

carriers
The seabed factor depends on the type of

For the anchor to be adequate for holding this seabed and also the category of anchor
vessel in the given environment, the anchor's (Standard Anchor vs High Holding Power,
holding power FHOLD must be greater than the HHP Anchors). The following table from
environmental force, i.e., OCIMF document gives the seabed factors
The anchor's holding power, FHOLD depends

on the the type of anchor, the size of the If the anchor holding power is found
anchor's fluke and also on the seabed type. Soft insufficient against the environmental load,
mud is considered the weakest sea bed in terms then there's a possibility of the anchor being
of holding power, and sand is a better surface dragged which is a dangerous situation and can
with higher holding power. Anchors with lead to collisions and grounding. This calls for
higher fluke area also have higher holding corrective action like preparing the vessel for
power. Generally, heavier anchors provide manoeuvring, deploying more cable etc.
higher holding power too. See this article for However, prevention is always better than
more detail -> Article on anchors corrective action, and it always helps in
knowing beforehand the expected
Anchor holding power can be estimated form environmental forces on the vessel and check if
the anchor's weight and a factor for the type of the anchor has sufficient holding power.
seabed. The formula is below:
You can check the app below.
https://thenavalarch.com/software/marine-operations/anchoring/ocimf-anchoring-environment-loads-calculator/
Anchor Holding Power = Anchor Weight (tonnes) x Seabed Factor

SELECTING THE RIGHT CAPSTAN
FOR BERTHING A VESSEL
INTRODUCTION THE CONCEPT

Capstans are frequently deployed mooring When berthing a vessel, a number of capstans
equipment used on all types of vessels. on the vessel may be utilized simultaneously.
Capstans are berthing/mooring equipment used How do we determine if the capstan size is
to multiply the pulling force on mooring ropes. sufficient?
Traditionally, Capstans were operated Thinking in basic terms, the berthing
manually but in modern ships, they are operation of the vessel will impose some
operated wither electro-hydraulically or forces on the vessel, which are transferred
electromechanically. through the berthing lines to the capstans.
When Capstans are used in mooring ships, they
have to be sufficient in size and number to What forces are these?
overcome the forces which the ship
experiences in the lateral direction due to At the berth, the two major forces are the
environmental forces of wind and current. How wind and current forces that the vessel
do we know what size capstans will be experiences. Also, since the vessel is mostly
sufficient? We’ll take a detailed look at in this berthed sideways, these forces must be
article. calculated on the side of the vessel (not on the
This article is based on DDS-582-1 front).
Calculations for Mooring Systems, Department
of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command,
Washington DC, 20362-5101.
ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES
The first step is calculating the environmental forces on the vessel. Generally, at berth, wind, and
current are the most significant forces, while wave forces can be generally ignored. When calculating
the wind and current forces, the standard physics formula of Force = Pressure x Area shall be used.
In the method by DDS-582 (Ref 3), wave forces have not been considered for doing the calculation.
For wind force, the formula is Fwind = 1/2 x Cwind x ρwind x Vwind2 x Awind, where Cwind is the
coefficient of wind force, ρwind is the density of air, Vwind is the wind speed, and Awind is the
total area of ship and cargo which is exposed to the wind from beam direction (the above-water area)
Similarly, for current force, the formula is Fcurrent = 1/2 x Ccurrent x ρwater x Vcurrent2 x
Aunderwater, where Ccurrent is the coefficient of current force, ρwater is the density of water,
Vcurrent is the current speed, and Aunderwater is the total underwater area of ship which is exposed
to the current from beam direction.
The critical items in the calculations for Wind and Current forces are the force coefficients for wind
and current.
These coefficients can be obtained from the coefficient plots provided in DDS-582, and some plots
are presented below:
We can see that the lateral current force is dependent on an additional factor: the underkeel
clearance which is measured as Water Depth to Draft ratio (WD/T).
At the end of this exercise, we’ll have the following with us:
Wind Force – transverse
Current force – transverse
Next exercise is using these forces and calculate the capstan line pull using the environmental
forces.
Once we have the wind and current lateral
forces, we add them up together to give
Capstan Design the total lateral force on the vessel.
Total Lateral Force, FY = FYW + FYC,
where
FY = total lateral force on the vessel
FYW = lateral wind force on the vessel
FYC = lateral current force on the vessel
If the number of capstans is ‘n’, then the

line pull per capstan is given by:
PCP = FY/n
Once the line pull is available, the
minimum required Capstan power is
determined as follows:
PCAPSTAN = PCP x VCP/ηCP

Here,
PCAPSTAN = Required minimum
capstan power
VCP = Capstan’s warping line speed
ηCP = Capstan’s efficiency
The Capstan’s efficiency has the
From the above process, we can obtain the following components:
minimum required Capstan’s power using
Capstan Head Efficiency
which we can select the right capstan, or we
Overall bearing and gear efficiency
can evaluate the suitability of an existing
For electro-hydraulic capstans
capstan for berthing.
additionally - Efficiency of Hydraulic
Pump and Motor

Equipment Numeral Calculation for a Ship – a Guide
Intriguing as it sounds, Equipment Number (or Equipment Numeral) throws a plethora of questions
when heard for the first time. Is it something which tells the number of equipment on a ship, or is it
a catalog which assigns specific number to the equipment on a ship?
Cutting to the chase, Equipment Number (abbreviated as EN) is just a non-dimensional parameter
which can be used to select the right sized anchoring and chain cables for a new ship. However, it
is to be noted that these equipment are only meant for harbor mooring, and not for open sea or
rough weather mooring.
Once the EN is known, a set of adequately sized equipment for mooring/anchoring of the vessel
can be selected. Following are some equipment which can be selected based on EN:
Stockless bower anchors

Stud-link chain cables
Towlines – made of Steel of fiber ropes
Mooring lines – made of steel or fiber ropes

First Principles Analysis
Thinking in very basic terms, the problem Now that we know the basis of the calculation,
at hand is to select the right set of let’s move on to establish the how a number (the
equipment for anchoring/mooring a vessel Equipment Number) can be used to gauge the
at port/harbor. That brings us to the basic environmental forces for a vessel.
question – why do we need to anchor a
vessel? The simple reason is to prevent it One thing is clearly obvious – that a bigger ship
from drifting away. What causes the drift? will have higher windage and current areas, and
It is the forces of the environment acting on thus will attract higher forces. Similarly, a smaller
the vessel. What are these forces? The ship will have smaller forces. These forces
forces are wind, current and wave. Wave is depend upon the projected areas, which become
generally non-significant at harbors. the determining parameter.
How is wind/current force on the vessel Also, we can infer that a ship with higher forces
calculated? Wind and current forces are will need heavier equipment to anchor itself.
drag forces, and they follow the simple drag
equation Thus, we can establish the following relationship
where, F = drag force, ρ = density of the

medium (air/water), V = speed of
wind/current, A = Area of vessel exposed to
wind/current
From the above formula, we can understand

that the Area of the vessel exposed to the
wind or current is a critical input in
The above relationship is good to know but is
calculation of the drag force. Inferring
obvious and not really spectacular or
further, Wind force will depend on the
particularly helpful in selecting the anchoring
projected windage area of
or mooring equipment. The question remains -
How do we select the right size equipment?
the hull above the waterline, and
topsides/superstructure/deckhouse
Do we go about calculating the forces for each
port/harbor the vessel is expected to dock at?
Current force will depend upon the wetted
That will be a tedious exercise.
surface area of the hull underwater

Won’t it be great if there was some standard The formula is a sum of the different
table which recommends the equipment size components of current and windage areas.
based on the size of the vessel? That would
make our lives much easier. Say, given the The first term, Δ, is the vessel
windage/current areas of the vessel and its displacement. This term, being the weight
topsides/superstructure, the table can belt out of the underwater portion of the ship,
the sizes of anchors and cables to be used. relates to the area exposed to current forces
Further, it will be much better to combine both (the displacement raised to the power of
windage and current areas as one input against fraction 2/3 factors the cubic displacement
which the equipment sizes can be presented. term to a squared area term, roughly)
The second term 2 BH, is an indicator of
The windage and current areas are combined in the transverse windage area of the vessel.
a number called Equipment Number (EN). The We can see that H is the height of effective
table which gives the sizes of height of the uppermost deckhouse.
anchoring/mooring equipment for various Calculation of H has two parts:
Equipment Numbers is called the Equipment
Number/Numeral (EN) Table. EN Tables are 1. The part representing the hull exposed to
provided in most Classification Society rules wind – captured by the term ‘a’
and the formula to calculate the Equipment 2. The part representing deckhouses –
Number (EN) is also provided. captured by adding the heights of
deckhouses present on the vessel.
For example, the DNV-GL rules provide the
formula and table for EN in its Rules for Ships, The following diagram from ABS Rules Part 3,
Part 3, Chapter 11, Section 1-3. An extract of Ch 5, Sec 1/3.5 demonstrates the calculation of
the EN formula is presented below: H. Only deckhouses which have width greater
than B/4 (B = breadth of the vessel) are
considered in the calculation

The third term 0.1A, is an indicator of the We can see below that the first column has
profile windage area of the vessel. The profile different ranges of Equipment Number (EN).
area is not a governing one for windage area Every EN range is allotted an equipment
calculation, as the anchored vessel will ‘letter’ which is an alphabet (sometimes with a
weathervane to face the wind direction, and subscript). This is a notation used for
thus the transverse windage area of the vessel classifying the equipment based on equipment
governs. Thus, the profile area is factored by number.
the value 0.1. When EN has to be calculated to
select the towing or mooring lines, then the
area A has to additionally include the profile
area of the maximum stacks of deck cargoes
above the summer water line.
We can see that EN is obtained as a numerical

value from the above formula and has the units
of area (m2). Also, the value obtained from the
above formula should be rounded off to the The above table is straightforward – from the
nearest higher integer to get the EN. value of EN, we locate the correct range in the
first column. For example, if the EN is 250,
then the range to be used is 240 – 279, as
Getting equipment sizes highlighted in the table above.
Once we have the EN, what next? How do we It is to be noted here that for the same vessel,
select the right sized equipment from EN? the EN to be used for Towline and Mooring
Once again, Class rules come to assistance. line selection can be higher compared to the
EN used for the rest of the equipment (cables
Class Rules provide standard tables for getting and anchors), since additional profile areas of
the equipment sizes once the EN has been deck cargoes are also included while
calculated. calculating EN for towline/mooring line
selection.
Once such table for DNV Rules is shown Exceptions and deviations
below: For fishing vessels with EN up to 720, the
table to be used is separate. For EN above
720, the regular table can be used (as per
DNV rules, Ref [2])
For vessels operating in harbored/restricted
service areas, the EN can be reduced.
Please see DNV Rules (Ref [2]) for more
details.

Vessel with Stern on Quay:
A simplified method for mooring design
Concept
For each configuration, the mooring design has to be
adequate to restrain the forces which the vessel
experiences. In this article, we will analyse the first
configuration - the Stern on Quay in more detail, and
present a simplified method for calculating the line
loads for a 4-point mooring pattern with the vessel's
Stern on Quay.
The Stern-on-Quay configuration can be used when

there's limited space available for the Port-on-Quay
configuration, or when specialized operations like
loadout are needed. During these operations, it is
important to hold the vessel in place when the loadout
A vessel at berth experiences much lower
operation is being carried out. The vessel will be
forces compared to a vessel in the open sea
subject to external forces of wind, current and wave,
due to the milder environment, but it still
and so it is important to design a mooring system
requires a mooring configuration suitable to
which can overcome these forces.
the forces it experiences, and also suitable
for the type of berthing configuration Thinking in very basic terms, the vessel will have its
adopted. The berthing configuration Stern pressing against the Quay (with fenders
depends on the geometry of the berth, and between the vessel and Quay to take the load). This
also on the available space depending on vessel will be subjected to environmental loads
the traffic at the berth and size of the vessel. coming from the beam side of the vessel
Two berthing configurations which are (athwartship) which will tend to drift it off. A simple
mostly used are: way is to tie the vessel to the quay side using ropes,
and the simplest solution is to use a rope on each side,
Configuration 1: with the vessel's Stern running each from the Port or Starboard side of the
aligned with the Quay vessel, and tied to a bollard on the Quay. However,
Configuration 2: with the vessel's Port this simplest solution, while feasible, doesn't have any
or Starboard side aligned with the backup in case the rope on either side breaks. Also, if
Quay. the ropes are tied closer to the fwd end of the vessel,
the aft end may be subjected to an undesirable yaw
Both these configurations are shown in the moment. Thus, a safer and more recommended
sketches above. solution is to have two ropes on either side, running to
different bollards on the Quay Side. This ensures that
the entire load is distributed over two ropes on either
side.
Calculation Steps Environmental Forces
Get the vessel's dimensions and cargo When calculating the wind and current forces,
dimensions the standard physics formula of Force =
Get the environmental parameters of the Pressure x Area shall be used.
Quay - Wave height, wind speed and current For wind force, the formula is Fwind = 1/2 x
speed ρwind x Vwind2 x Awind, where ρwind is the
Calculate all the environmental forces on the density of air, Vwind is the wind speed, and
vessel from the beam side (either port or Awind is the total area of ship and cargo which
Starboard). Also calculate the location along is exposed to the wind from beam direction (the
the length of the ship where the net force above-water area)
acts. Similarly, for current force, the formula is
It should be noted here that while Fwind = 1/2 x ρwater x Vcurrent2 x
current and wave forces can be Aunderwater, where ρwater is the density of
considered to be acting at the water, Vcurrent is the current speed, and
longitudinal centre of floatation of the Aunderwater is the total underwater area of ship
vessel (which is close to midship), the which is exposed to the current from beam
point of application of wind force will direction.
depend on the size and location of cargo
(if any) along the length of the vessel. The exposed areas to current and wind are
For a conservative analysis, the forces shown in the figure below:
are considered to be collinear, i.e., all
forces acting at the same time along the
same direction
Using basic physics formulae, balance the
mooring line tensions against the force and
moment due to the force. Here, the moment
arm is the distance of the net force from the
Quay.
There are two sets of equations - one The Wave force is the additional wave load
balancing the line tensions against the (Wave Drift Force) which will arise due to the
net environmental force, and the other harbour waves which the vessel experiences.
balancing the moments. Though the wave heights at Quay are generally
The combination of the above two low, this force whould also be considered.
equations gives the lie tensions on the These are related to wind speeds, and high wind
lines on either side. It is assumed that speeds may lead to significant wave heights as
the lines are non-elastic well.

Please see below Beaufort scale to get the idea of relation between wave height and wind speed:
The Wave drift force can be calculated from DNV-RP-H103, Sec 7.2.6, taking the reflection coefficient
R as 1. L is ship's length and HS is the significant wave height.

Line Force Calculation
Once the forces have been calculated, the calculation of the line forces on the mooring line on either
side can be done using the two equations of balance of forces, and balance of moments. The
calculations based on TheNavalArch's own App, are shown below:
Figure 4 Sample calculations for 4-point, Stern-on-Quay mooring arrangement
The above simple method can serve as a quick check to help design a simple 4-line mooring pattern
for vessels moored with their Stern on Quay. However, if high accuracy is demanded, or if multiple
cases of environment from different directions are to be investigated, then a full fledged mooring
analysis can also be carried out using standard software like Orcaflex (you may contact us for the
same). For simple cases, the above calculation should suffice. Please do take a moment to explore
our own excel-ased App which performs the above detailed calculation. With simple user interface
and basic inputs, it performs a quick assessment of the line loads and presents a basic mooring plan.

https://thenavalarch.com/software/maritime-industry- https://thenavalarch.com/software/maritime-industry- https://thenavalarch.com/software/maritime-industry-
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calculator-port-stbd-quay/ environment-forces-calculator-vlcc/ catenary-app/
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Mooring Operations Guidebook Vol 1

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THENAVALARCH'S

GUIDEBOOK SERIES MOORING

Over the years, TheNavalArch has been

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

02 Calculating a Ship’s Design MBL using OCIMF MEG-4

03 Mooring System Design and Analysis

Designing the berth mooring of your vessel with this

Understanding how buoys affect the catenary of a

A simple method of selecting the right anchor for

07 Selecting the right Capstan for berthing a vessel

Vessel with Stern on Quay: A simplified method for

Environment and Environmental forces

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

Hence, the steps to designing a mooring

The design of mooring at berth can be broken down

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

MEG-4 provides a simple solution: Section 3 of

For tankers, WD/T to be taken as 1.05

We can see here that there will be multiple

Since the wind of 60 knots can be from any

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

The force coefficients provided in

The coefficients can be obtained

Step 2 – Environmental forces

The environmental forces on the vessel can be calculated

The environmental force coefficients comprise the

Mooring equipment can be the following:

Mooring lines and shackles

OCIMF proposes calculation of a parameter called the ‘Ship’s Design MBL’.

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

Ship's Design MBL Calculation Steps (Source: OCIMF MEG-4)

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

Mooring System Fundamentals

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

Mooring systems are broadly classified into two

Figure 3: Restoring forces – Taut Mooring

Ever wondered why slack mooring is also

Figure 2: Restoring forces – Catenary Mooring

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

The mooring pattern of the barge is symmetric

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

Up until now, we have talked about the

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

Once the intact case is analyzed, the next

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

Designing the berth mooring of

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

We’ll be following a guideline developed by US Navy called DDS-582 to explain the

Get the vessel's dimensions and cargo dimensions

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1

y' here is the slope of the catenary line at

Substituting Eq. 1 in Eq. 2

These results can be substituted back in Eq. 4

Assume a section anywhere in the suspended

TheNavalArch's Guidebook Series - Mooring Operations Volume 1