Autoanchor
Applications
A Moormaster 400 system at the Port of Melbourne (Click to enlarge)
An important element of the mooring systems is their control systems. Internet-controlled software allows the performance of the system to be remotely monitored in real-time. Mooring load information is produced from the measurement of vacuum efficiencies and from monitoring athwartships and fore and aft hydraulic cylinders. With full knowledge of the mooring conditions at all times, the operator has complete control and understanding of the moored state of the vessels under his control.
Potential applications for the system appear limited only by the imagination. In just a few years, some novel applications for the technology have emerged. A shipping company in New Zealand was faced with the problem of having a vessel too long to berth at a wharf. Extending the wharf would have been a simple but expensive solution; instead the company created a “virtual extension” of the wharf by installing a number of MSL wharf-mounted units. By substituting automated mooring units for mooring lines at the extremity of the pier, ships can berth overhanging the end of the berth at a fraction of the cost of extending the berth or providing mooring dolphins, walkways and lines boats.
