A New Lease of Life:
Upgrading Existing Mooring Facilities
Today, the majority of new jetties handling hazardous cargoes are specified with quick release hooks, capstans and mooring load monitoring as standard. Optional remote release and Docking Aid Systems may also be included depending on location, environmental factors and operational preferences. These systems have proven their effectiveness in increasing both vessel and operator safety through monitoring mooring data during vessel berthing and whilst alongside, and making this available to key personnel such as the Pilot, vessel Master and terminal operators.
Much of this technology is relatively new: certainly the last 10 years has seen a tremendous development of cost effective hardware and software systems development from three or four global designers of mooring equipment. As a leading supplier of mooring systems, Harbour Marine Engineering has worked on a range of fully integrated designs as retrofit packages. These enable existing jetties to upgrade their mooring systems to meet changing operational demands such as increased vessel size, higher levels of traffic, handling different cargoes or structural concerns.
The following project case studies illustrate some of the design issues that need to be addressed and the customized solutions that result.
Upgrade at Lamma Island Power Station, Hong Kong
The Lamma project consisted of the upgrade of an existing coal unloading jetty and the provision for mooring and monitoring system for a new adjoining jetty.
An important part of the upgrade process is in the initial site survey and the review of client's needs from a functional as well as operational point of view. The existing jetty bollards were to be replaced with custom-designed quick release hooks and these, together with existing hooks, were provided with a load monitoring system.
A new docking aid system was added to each berth and this was integrated into a central monitoring system, allowing operators to view and monitor the vessel as it was docking and later to monitor mooring line tension.
As with most upgrades, the jetty had to remain operational throughout the entire upgrade process so careful planning was needed to expedite the installation of hardware and cabling.
Integrated Vessel Monitoring at the Port of Bintulu, Sarawak
The Port of Bintulu Authority operates 3 LNG berths and 1 LPG berth. The existing load monitoring system installed in the '80s and '90s had deteriorated to a point which made them unreliable. As these were considered critical to the safe mooring of the very large LNG carriers, an upgrade was considered necessary.
The Port decided to renew 65 load cells together with their digital connection back to an upgraded central data acquisition system which was located in an unmanned sub station located on the jetty itself.
The LNG 1 and 2 systems also required integration with the new LNG 3 monitoring system installed within the Port Control Tower some 2km from these jetties. This was achieved over a wireless communication network forming part of the HME overall scope of work.
The concept of integrating monitoring systems from the jetty allows many advantages. First, data from all sensors including load cells, environmental sensors and docking can be recorded into a central database. Second, a common computer-based workstation allows multifunctional use and the output of alarms can be provided to interface with the client's existing warning system. From experience, consideration of both mechanical and instrumentation requirements as one design package invariably leads to a more effective design at lower overall cost.
Customised design meets operational needs at Phillips Rodeo Refinery, California
As one of the largest oil refinery operators in the San Francisco Bay, Phillips 66 receives crude oil tankers ranging in length from 150-270 metres (400-800 ft).
A major decision to install state-of-the-art vessel docking aid, load monitoring and quick release hook mooring systems on two berths was made at the early design stage which enabled Harbour Marine to tailor the mechanical mooring and instrumentation systems to the needs of their engineers and jetty operators.
Highlights of this major upgrade include:
- 60T capacity Quick Release Hooks with capstans incorporate electrical remote release and a load cells, linking to a centralised monitoring system. Load Monitoring and remote release share SmartHook® digital communication cabling. Audio/visual warning lights and sirens have been installed for each unit.
- A SmartDock® Docking Aid System (DAS), integrated to the central computer system and complete with a large Display Board equipped with rotating pedestal was located on each jetty.
- A dedicated console located within the central control room provides the status and individual and/or simultaneous hook release.
- Additional mooring equipment has recently (2005) been added to enable polar class vessels to berth at the facility. Measuring 280M LOA, these vessel berth over 2 dock lengths and required extra quick release hooks, with integration of docking, load monitoring and remote release systems with the existing equipment.
