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The MoorMaster system
The Moormaster™ at Picton, installed in 2002 (Click to enlarge)
MoorMaster is the generic name of the shore-based mooring systems. The MoorMaster 200, is designed to meet the needs of light high-speed single and double hulled craft servicing short-haul fast turnaround routes in harbours, inland waterways, canals and between islands; the MoorMaster 400 and the MoorMaster 600, are designed for ships from 70 metres up to 350 metres; and the MoorMaster 800, for large vessels being worked in exposed conditions where windage is a problem.
The number of units needed to moor a vessel depends on hull windage area and environmental weather patterns. In most dockside models, the main mechanical/hydraulic componentry is mounted beneath the wharf deck while the units themselves are mounted on rails, allowing them to traverse the length of the wharf to cater to an infinite range of ship lengths. As with the IronSailor, the wharf units feature articulated actuation arms so they can cope with tidal and wave movements.
A conventional mooring system of angled ropes allows a moored vessel to move backwards and forwards, up-and-down and in-and-out from the wharf in response to waves, swells and vessel wash. Large ships have enormous mass and inertia. Ropes absorb the energy of a moving ship, and then release it as they relax when the vessel moves back on station.
A vessel may oscillate backwards and forwards on its mooring, making cargo operations difficult and unsafe, if not impossible. For wharf operators working on ship turnaround, this is a problem: stoppages through accident, design or bad conditions are expensive. To address this issue MSL developed a system that dampens quay-side movement by absorbing energy from a moored vessel and releasing it as heat, through a system of hydraulic coolers.
Because the mooring units attach to the ship closer to the waterline and immediately counteract mooring forces, the system has a greater mooring efficiency than angled ropes. Vessel movement is reduced, if not entirely eliminated and terminal productivity and safety is improved as a result.
Depending on circumstances, it typically takes between 10 and 40 minutes to tie up and 5 - 20 minutes to let go a vessel. By substituting automated mooring systems for mooring lines, vessels can be safely moored in less than 10 seconds. The advantages of the automated system were not lost on port operators around the world and developments have been closely followed by the international shipping industry. Early installations in Australia have generated ongoing interest.
