SHIPBOARD MOORING

EQUIPMENT

Course no. 12
 SHIPBOARD MOORING EQUIPMENT

• Consist of all the mooring lines, accessories and

machinery that could be used for mooring the ship
– to the berth,
– buoys,
– other ships for bunkering operations or tugs.
 SHIPBOARD MOORING EQUIPMENT

Main components:

1. Mooring Lines are used to secure a ship to a wharf, pier, dock or

another ship.

2. Accessories. The mooring line accessories include: tattletales,

line throwing devices, rat guards, and fairleads with hawser reels.

3. Mooring Fittings and berthing facilities. The mooring fittings

include: chocks, bitts, bollards and cleats. The berthing facilities
include: pier or wharf, fenders.

4. Mooring Machinery. The mooring machinery facilitates the

handling and securing of the mooring lines.
 Mooring lines

The size and strength of the mooring lines are matched to the ship
and generally increase as the size of the ship increases.

• Basic Types of rope

– Natural
– Synthetic
– Wire

SOLAS 1974.
 TERMINOLOGY

• Rope is a general term that can be applied both to fiber

rope and wire rope.

• Usually, sailors refer to wire rope as rope or just wire.

• When we refer to line, we mean the rope made from either

of these two fibers natural and synthetic.
 Natural lines
- are made from a variety of natural fibers (cotton, jute, hemp, and
abaca) have been used in the past, and some are still used.

Fibers Type Advantages Disadvantages

Manila - Readily available - Deteriorates if stowed wet, damp
Cotton - Inexpensive or left in the bright sunlight
- Very durable - ½ Strength of manila
- Pliable - Susceptible to rot
- Runs smoothly in blocks - Stretches, especially when wet
 Synthetic lines
- are made of nylon, armaid (Kevlar), polyester (Dacron),
and have substituted for manila in most applications.
Fibers Type Advantages Disadvantages
Nylon - Highest elasticity; Main disadvantage
Dacron - High resistance to rot; - When it reaches the end of its
- High abrasive resistance; elongation, it will SNAP, like a
- Twice as strong as manila; rubber band, becoming extremely
- Cheaper in the long run; dangerous to anybody or thing in
- Extremely flexible; its path;
- Dacron has all the properties of
Nylon but is NOT as Elastic;
- Fairly light in weight;
- Has mostly replaced cotton lines on
most vessels;
 Synthetic lines

Fibers Type Advantages Disadvantages

Poly- - It floats; - Low abrasion resistance;
ethylene - Stronger when it is wet. - Not nearly as supple as other
Poly- synthetics;
propylene - Knots need to be secured;
- Low abrasion resistance;
 Wire ropes

Advantages and disadvantages:

- Used where great strength or heavy loading is needed,
such as standing rigging and cable towing;
- Extremely stiff;
- Must use a Marlinspike to work with it;
- Difficult to work with.
 Construction of a rope

The basic unit of the line is the fiber.

• the fibers are fast twisted to the right to form yarns.
• Next, the yarns are twisted to the left to form strands.
• Then, the strands are twisted to the right to form lines.
 The braided rope

• The braided rope consists of a sheath – generally of 16 strands,

containing a heart (core).
• Cores may be of parallel, twisted, or plaited fibers. In this last
instance, the construction is commonly known as braid
construction; both sheath and core may contribute to the rope
strength.
 Natural lines

Manila Sizal
 Synthetic lines

Nylon Poly-esther

Poly-propylen Poly-ethilena
 Wire rope
The basic unit of a wire rope construction is the individual wire,
which is made of steel or other metal and comes in various sizes.

• These wires are laid together to form strands.

The number of wires in a strand varies according to the purpose of
the rope.
• A number of strands are laid together to form the wire rope.
Wire rope
 Mooring line characteristics

The size and strength of the mooring lines vary significantly

depending on the material used.

The ship’s deck fittings are sized to ensure adequate strength and
safety for the size of the mooring line to be used.
By design, the overall load of a mooring line should be less than the
breaking strength of the deck fitting.

This practice is employed to ensure that the ″easy to replace”

mooring line fails before damage to the ship’s structure would
occur.
Correct and incorrect
methods of
measuring wire rope
diameter
 Caring for your lines
• Do not overload: Under no circumstances the brake of the
winch should not be tensioned to more 60% from the minimum
breaking load of the rope;
• Protect against abrasion
• Keep your lines clean: Sand, dirt and grit will grind away the
material in a line. Wash them as needed;
• Match your line to the use;
• Keep all chemicals away;
• Avoid excess wear;
• Avoid kinks;
• Don’t run lines over sharp edges.
 Properly storing of lines

Rope Faked Down

Rope Coiled Down Rope Flemished Down

 Naming and numbering of mooring lines

• Mooring lines are traditionally numbered from forward to aft

according to the position where they are secured aboard the ship.
A ship may use extra mooring lines under heavy weather
conditions, in which case the numbering may not be sequential.
1 – head line
2 – forward breast line
3 – forward spring
4 – aft spring
5 – aft breast line
6 – stern line

• The figure below shows the numbers for six mooring lines used
for a typical pier side moor.
 Mooring lines accessories

• Tattletale. These may be used to determine when the tension in a

synthetic hawser is approaching the danger point. The figure
below shows a tattletale attached to a line when slack and then
when stretched.

• Heaving lines. Heaving lines are light weight floating synthetic

lines that are attached to the mooring lines and are used to pass the
mooring lines to the pier.
• Line throwing devices are used to pass
the mooring lines to the pier or another ship.
(a device connected to the end of a heaving
line).

• Rat guards. Rat guards are intended to prevent rats from

boarding ships by way of the mooring lines.

• Hawser reels. Vertical and horizontal hawser reels that are used
for minimizing the friction force, while storing the mooring lines
and towing the hawsers are provided according to the rope size
and the rope length.
 Mooring fittings
1 Deck fittings
2 Berthing facilities

• Piers, Wharves and Docks.

When not underway, ships can be moored to: piers or wharves (fixed
structures that extend from the shore), mooring buoys that are attached to
the seabed, or other ships.
 Piers and wharves are often called docks.
 A pier is usually oriented at right angles to the shore.
 A wharf is parallel to the shore.

• Mooring fittings on piers or wharves are designed with a load limit

that will satisfy the largest ship to be moored at that pier, plus a
suitable design factor. The most common pier mooring fittings are the
bollards and the cleats.
• Fenders are used for protection between two ships, or between a ship
and a pier.

These are needed to absorb energy, to cushion against impact loads, and to
provide standoff between ships and piers. The most common ship fender
is a pneumatic fender made of rubber, about 4 feet long and 3 feet in
diameter. It should be positioned amidships at the extreme beam. A
number of additional fenders, depending on the size and type of the ship,
are kept ready on the forecastle and on the fantail.

• Camels are large wooden logs or rectangular structures used to

provide protection to the side of a ship while it is alongside a pier.
 Mooring machinery
A capstan is a piece of deck equipment used for handling the
mooring lines. Capstans are generally designed to rotate in both
directions.
All capstans consist of a capstan head, a drive machinery and
operator controls.
Knots, bends and hitches

A Knot is the generic name for any loop or entanglement of

flexible material, created either intentionally or accidentally, by
a tucked end or bight. The word also has a very precise
meaning: a knot, as distinct from a bend or hitch, secures two
ends of the same material.

A bend is a knot that joins two separated ropes.

A hitch means the attachment between a line and a rail, post,

or ring; or perhaps to another rope (or even onto itself).
Knots
Bends
Hitches
Commands for mooring

• CHECK, PAY AWAY, VEER OUT – the rope

should be let go slowly
• CAST OFF, LET GO – the rope should be let go
• HEAVE IN – the rope should be brought on
board (manually or using the winch or the capstan)
• MAKE FAST – the rope should be hitched in
figure eight to the bollards
 FILA – se dă drumul uşor la parâmă
MOLA – se dă drumul de tot la parâmă
VIRA – se trage parâma (manual sau cu vinciul)
VOLTA – se încolăceşte parâma în formă de 8 strâns pe babale

• Make fast the bow spring! – Volta springul prova!

• Pay away the stern rope! – Fila parama pupa!
• Check the breast line! – Fila traversa!
• Make all fast! – Volta peste tot!
• Cast off the head rope! – Mola parama prova!
• Let go the head Rope! – Mola parama prova!
• Heave in the bow spring! – Vira springul prova!
• Heave in aft! – Vira legaturile pupa!