Analysis of moorings of a berthed ship

Ships are moored to the shore structures with a system of multiple moorings. The determination of the forces in the cables is essential for the design of moorings and for berthing structures. An optimum number and length of cables can be arrived at for a given ship of known dimensions and environrnental conditions. This paper is intended to derive the equations of static equilibrium for the mooring lines when the ship is subjected to surface wind, current and restricted waves. It also gives a methodology to assist the designer to predict the mooring forces on the mooring cables, bollards, etc. A computer program-SHIP MOOR-was developed for the analysis of the mooring system. Experiments were also conducted on a barge model, moored in a 30 m × 2 m flume in which both wave and current can be generated. The experimental results were compared with the results obtained from the computer program and they were found to be in good agreement. Using this computer program, a few case studies were carried out and the results are presented. © 1995.