UFC 4-159-03
3 October 2005
cannot go to sea. Ships carry enough lines to moor in Mooring Service Type II as
defined below, but not for Type III. Also, facilities are generally designed for Type II and
not Type III.
This section provides some general guidelines on Heavy Weather
mooring. For additional information, see the publications listed above. For safe Heavy
Weather mooring:
Ensure that the facility, mooring fittings and fenders are adequate (see
UFC 4-150-07 Maintenance of Waterfront Facilities, UFC 4-150-08 Inspection of
Mooring Hardware, UFC 4-151-10 General Criteria for Waterfront Construction, MIL-
HDBK-1025/1 Piers and Wharves, etc.).
Identify alternative piers or wharves that the ship could be towed to that
may be safer and work out ahead of time all the logistics necessary to ensure that the
needed berth would be available and that the ship could arrive and be safely moored in
adequate time.
The facility needs to provide heavy weather mooring lines, since ship's
lines are generally inadequate. Double braided polyester lines are recommended for
Heavy Weather mooring, because the lines have excellent fatigue resistance. These
lines also have some stretch which aids in load sharing between lines and helps
accommodate water level changes.
It is standard practice to first put the ship in a Standard of Storm Mooring
(i.e. Mooring Service Type Iia or Iib) when a ship comes to a facility for repair (Figure
11-1 upper). These types of moorings are used since the mooring lines can be secured
to mooring fittings near the ship, so the mooring lines have minimum interference with
repair work.
It is then standard practice to put the ship in a Heavy Weather mooring
(i.e. Mooring Service Type III) if storms, hurricanes or other threatening conditions are
expected (Figure 11-1 lower). In Heavy Weather mooring, for example, mooring lines
may be run
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