Friday 16 May 08 - 11:48
 

Deck Equipment & Lifting Gear

Lighten Up for Easier Mooring

Following a successful eight month sea trial on its Cosmerry Lake VLCC, Cosco Dalian found that, in comparison with steel wire mooring lines, ropes made with Dyneema enabled a reduction in mooring time and significantly improved crew safety.

The VLCC 'Cosmerry Lake' completed an eight month sea trial using Dyneema mooring lines.
The VLCC 'Cosmerry Lake' completed an eight month sea trial using Dyneema mooring lines.

DSM Dyneema worked closely with Cosco Dalian during the sea trial to document performance of the new ropes.

With a steady increase in the length and capacity of oil and LNG carriers and the trend toward mooring in more exposed conditions, greater loads are placed on mooring lines. However, when steel wire lines are made stronger, they become too large and heavy to handle. Dyneema fiber is exceptionally strong for its weight. As a result, a mooring line made with Dyneema that is as strong as steel wire will have the same diameter but weighs only one eighth as much. Therefore, ropes made with Dyneema can be handled more easily. For example, instead of being restricted to deploying one steel wire line at a time, a mooring boat can carry two ropes made with Dyneema, significantly reducing mooring time. Less weight can also help to avoid crew injury and, because Dyneema fibre provides a low elongation of less than 2.5% at break, there is minimal backlash in case of failure.

Zhao Jinwen, general manager of the technical department Cosco Dalian said, 'We are always looking for new ways to improve the safety and efficiency of our operations, and this is why we trialed the lines made with Dyneema. We were very impressed with the results. The mooring ropes are lighter and easier for seamen to handle, which helps avoid injury at sea and ashore, and speeds up the mooring process. We dramatically reduced mooring time, which will help lower port fees and allow faster turnarounds for our vessels. We are looking forward to the launch of the 'Cospearl Lak' and the many benefits Dyneema technology will bring to its operation.' The new ship is equipped with a full set of 22 ropes, each 28m long and with a required breaking strength of 1300kN.

Images for this article - click to enlarge

The VLCC 'Cosmerry Lake' completed an eight month sea trial using Dyneema mooring lines.

All images copyright © Mercator Media 2008

Taylor Fuel Control - For all your fuel requirements