Tips For Safe Mooring

The mooring process is one of the most important and delicate tasks that seafarers must perform. Mooring accidents occur from time to time, mainly due to lack of concentration and avoidable factors. Some seafarers refer to these factors as "death traps" on ships. Equipped with expertise on how to avoid these "death traps" can reduce accidents caused by innocent seafarers. Deck personnel must be familiar with safety precautions and have a full understanding of deck machinery.

Fender

First of all, the port must be equipped with high-quality rubber fenders/pier fenders. The mudguard acts as a "pier bumper", absorbing collision energy and minimizing the reaction force on the two surfaces. This prevents damage to the dock and the ship during the contact process. As it is susceptible to friction, covers and front pads made of other materials should be used to protect the fenders of the dock from shearing forces. In addition, some are designed with roller systems, so the ship can glide along the dock without tearing off the fender.

Pretension

When the mooring rope is under constant tension, friction is used to prevent the ship from moving forward and backward when it is close to the rubber fender. A certain degree of softness of the fenders will help during mooring because they can be effectively pre-tensioned. The change in the shape of the fender during contact under pressure will help to ensure that relatively small movements of the boat will not cause the boat to move forward and backward due to friction.

Weather and deck conditions

Before mooring operations, weather conditions involving wind and current conditions should be considered. If future weather conditions are challenging for mooring operations, the safety of the crew should be considered. Seafarers should pay attention to the "back bend zone" and the bend of the rope to avoid accidents during operation. One of the most overlooked mistakes is allowing extra personnel on deck during mooring. Those who do not assist in mooring operations should not be on the mooring station. It is also important to keep the mooring station clean and there are no unused ropes and equipment on the deck.

Mooring winch and sea wind

The mooring winch should be properly maintained and maintained efficient operation. Before mooring, the winch brake and other parts should be thoroughly inspected. Freight berths are increasingly affected by sea winds. The current trend is to re-develop ports to allow more mechanized cargo handling and omit traditional warehouses with refuges. The short loading platform provides little shelter for bulk carriers and oil tankers. This should highlight other problems that accompany the wind.

After mooring

After the mooring process, it is still equally important to check the load on the mooring rope and the rope condition. No one of the mooring ropes exceeds 55% of its maximum breaking load (MBL) to prevent the rope from jamming and causing accidents. Changes in the ship's ballast conditions require that the pipeline be tightened accordingly. These are just some of the factors to be considered during mooring operations. This process requires all relevant personnel to be very diligent, and the equipment must be efficient to prevent mooring accidents.