Experimental Study on Mooring Manner and Safety Operation for 450,000DWT Supertanker

At present, many oil tank wharfs of 300,000DWT which taken the maximum of 450,000DWT supertanker into account had been built in our country. In this paper, through the physical model test on 450,000DWT supertanker, the mooring line tension with different mooring arrangements, cable diameters and cable materials were studied and the wave condition for the supertanker safety operation was given. The results showed that: on the same wave condition, to increase the steel cable’s diameter could reduce the ship’s movements, which could enhance the ability to operation. In addition, using the combination cable on the same diameter instead of the steel cable could reduce the tension of mooring line and increase the working ability effectively. The research results can provide reference and guidance for the future of supertankers mooring operation.