With the ever-increasing size of oil and gas tankers and container vessels, mooring operations have become increasingly safety-critical. If mooring lines are subject to uneven loading due to vessel drift, the mooring line is at risk of failing, which could result in injury to port personnel and significant damage to berth infrastructure.
The installation of a mooring line load monitoring system can reduce these risks by providing real-time monitoring of the tension in each mooring line during loading and unloading operations. This facilitates safe and efficient securing of a vessel to its berth by alerting port operators and vessel masters to any instance of uneven loading, allowing remedial action to be taken. This ensures mooring remains secure and personnel protected.
For smaller vessels, the use of a mooring line load monitoring systems may also be used to ensure that the mooring line stays within its safe working load limit and the possibility of line failure resulting in vessel drift off eliminated.
The system monitors line tension via the installation of strain gauged load measuring pins into quick-release mooring hooks or through the use of load shackles or load links attached to the mooring line and secured to mooring bollards, rings or cleats.
