How Baltic Mooring of Ship is Done?

What happens when there is a strong onshore wind and you have to berth a ship without the
assistance of tugs to a pier or jetty that is not strong enough to bear the impact or is not
sufficiently fendered?
In such a situations, the master or the pilot takes the recourse of using the ships anchor as
well as the wires available on board in a specific way to minimize the impact of the fall. This
is done by mooring ship in such a way where a vessel is berthed alongside the quay by
employing a stern mooring shackled to the offshore anchor cable in the region of the ganger
length. When approaching the berth, the offshore anchor is deployed and the weight on the
cable and the stern mooring act in unison to hold the vessel just off the quay.
Baltic mooring is a combination mooring of a vessel alongside the berth which employs a
stern mooring shackled to the offshore anchor cable in the region of the ganger length.
When approaching the berth, the offshore anchor is deployed and the weight on the cable
and the stern mooring act to hold the vessel just of the quay. Baltic mooring is a safe option
to berth a ship on a windy day.

Now, there is a preparatory process to be undertaken before venturing for the Baltic moor.
At first a 30 mm wire is passed from the poop deck on the offshore side from the outside of
the hull and clear of any protrusions like the gangway, the pilot ladder etc.
The anchor is cockbilled, i.e., released a little from the hawse pipe before finally letting it
go, and a man is lowered with a bosuns chair (a seat suspended from the ship to perform
any work outside the ships hull) to tie up the wire to the anchor with a shackle at about the
gangers length.
The other end of the wire is taken on turn upon a mooring winch through a bight.
When the ship is abreast of the berth and falling on it rapidly, the anchor is dropped
keeping trickle headway so that the anchor holds.
When the anchor is snubbed, the wire from the stern that goes in with the anchor, gets
taught and effectively holds the fall of the stern.

 The anchor chain is then slowly payed off and simultaneously the wire from the stern, while
the
on-shore wind pushes the vessel horizontally to the berth.
As soon as the vessel is close -springs, head and stern lines are passed ashore with the
heaving lines and the scope of the anchor adjusted accordingly so as to bring the ship slowly
alongside the berth.
Normally the anchor is dropped 70-100 feet off the berth depending on the wind force and
the tonnage of the vessel.

6 Common Mooring Methods Used For Ships

Each vessel has been designed with mooring arrangements such that ropes and
wires of recommended strength can help it moor safely alongside a berth, floating
platform, buoy or a jetty. Fundamentally a vessel has to be positioned alongside a
jetty or a berth, between mooring buoys, to a mooring buoy, to another ship or barge
and then made fast using her own anchors, mooring lines or shore lines.
Some very common methods of mooring are Mediterranean mooring, Baltic
mooring, Running mooring, Standing mooring, Spider mooring buoys ,
Single point or single buoy mooring, Conventional or multi buoy mooring,
Ship to Ship Mooring
While Moored alongside a fixed or floating jetty or a sea berth there are various
forces action on the vessel such as wind, current, tide, wave action, swell, surging
induced due to passing ships and trim of the vessel. The spring, breast and head
lines prevent vessels movement against the action of these forces. The directional
effect of these need not be unidirectional. It can be multi-directional or at various
angles to the vessel. The resultant direction of these forces often changes with
change in direction of onshore/offshore winds or tidal streams, currents upriver and
down streams. Thus a combination of breast ropes, head ropes and spring ropes is
the best method to counter these forces and keep the vessel safely alongside.
Often mixed moorings are observed as some terminal based on local conditions and
experiences require vessels to use more lines than they are designed for . Thus the
method in which wires in conjunction with soft ropes with different SWL and
construction are used as well is termed as Mixed mooring. The simplified resultant of
these forces would tend to move a vessel in transverse or longitudinal direction with
respect to the jetty. Thus spring lines prevent the longitudinal motion and the breast
lines check the transverse motion.
It is always preferred to avoid mixed moorings due to variable loads and elasticity of
various kind of ropes and wires which lead to different strain or weight on the lines.
This can result in excessive loads on some lines than others and eventually part
them putting the vessel in danger. However, for safety reasons or in a desperate
situation shipmasters or pilots may have to resort to mixed moorings.
Vessels sometimes also use the seaward anchor in conjunction with mooring lines to
haul the vessel out of jetty while casting off or while making fast the vessel alongside
use the seaward anchor to assist the control of the rate of lateral movement towards
the berth. This manoeuvre can be carried out with or without the assistance of tugs.

Ship to Ship transfer operation involves mooring alongside of two different or

same sized ships for cargo transfer. During this operation either one of the ships is at
anchor or both are underway. The mooring arrangement depends on the size of the
ships. A vessel either at anchor or stopped and maintaining a constant heading is
approached by the manoeuvring ship at an angle of approach as smaller as
practicable. The region of approach is usually abaft the beam of the constant heading
ship. During the approach as the manoeuvring ship comes closer, it steers a course
parallel to the heading or course of the other ship and reduces the horizontal
distance between ships to less than 100 metres. Once this state is achieved the
manoeuvring ship uses engine and rudder movements and reduces this distance
further until the fenders touch each other. The two ships thus then make parallel
contact and the lines are passed respectively as per the mooring plan. As a common
practice during the approach the wind and sea are preferred to be from ahead or at
very small angles to the bow.

Single buoy or single point mooring : Often larger ships which cannot approach
ports and terminal are berthed outside the port limits or in sheltered anchorages and
the cargo transfer carried out with the help of Single point or single buoy moorings.
The basic principle of the buoy is to keep the position of the vessel with respect to
the buoy steady and at the same time allowing vessels to swing to wind and sea.
Often a tug is provided at the aft to keep the ship at a fixed angle and distance from
the buoy. The buoy is fixed by positioning it in the centre of four anchors connected
to it. The ship is made fast to the buoy with the help of a single chain or two which is
secured onboard to the bow stopper. In general while approaching Single point or
single buoy moorings weather is a major criteria in determining whether to berth the
vessel or not. Calm seas with low swell and wind force below 15kts are considered

favorable to make an approach. Presence of strong tidal current limits the interval for
berthing and unberthing. The headway approach has to be slow often less than while
at the same time approaching at a smaller angle to the buoy and then gradually
hauling in the buoy messenger rope and pulling the vessel slowly towards the buoy
using engine kicks at short intervals to control and maintain headway along with
mooring winches to haul in the vessel when she nears about 150-200 meters from
the buoy. For unberthing the chain is released from the bow stopper and a short kick
on the engines going astern swings the bow to starboard for right handed propellers
thus clearing the vessel of the buoy. Tugs assistance can also be used to pull the
vessel astern and clear it of the buoy. Know more aboutsingle point mooring here.

Conventional buoy or multi buoy mooring : In this method the bow of the ship is
secured using both her anchors whereas the stern is secured to buoy around it . In
the approach firstly vessel approaches the final berthing position from forward at an
angle of 90 degrees to her final direction of berthing. The starboard anchor is then let
go first at a pre decided spot while the ship is making headway. Required amount of
cable is paid and the astern propulsion too operated simultaneously to stop the
vessel. Once the vessel is stopped in water port anchor is let go and thus vessel
positions her stern along the centerline bifurcating the buoys . For aligning the vessel
along this centerline port cable is paid out and starboard cable heaved in with astern
propulsion . The helm and engines to be carefully used during this maneuver to
ensure the stern is swinging clear of any of the buoys. During unberthing the anchor
cables are heaved in to move the vessel forward and the weight is taken on
windward lines while casting off other lines to prevent swinging of the stern into the
other buoys. This manoeuvre requires skill and efficient operation of ships crew as
well as of the mooring equipments as often weight of the lines can be immense.

Mediterranean mooring : For this type of mooring, a pre-calculated position is

determined and approached using engine movements. The bow initially is made to
cant towards the berth and the starboard anchor is let go in that positions. After this
the engines are run astern and the port anchor is let go at the designated spot. The
vessel falls astern and swings to starboard. Thus vessel is held by both the anchors
as it approaches the quay. Stern lines are then passed. Moorings are kept tight by
using the anchor cables. The positioning of vessel is such that mooring is completed
with around four shackles on each anchor. Often tide is used to control drift of
the vessel towards quay while positioning it by heaving or paying out on one of the
anchors.

Running Mooring : This manoeuvre takes relatively short duration compared to

Mediterranean mooring and offers more control of the vessel. The vessels starboard
anchor is let go at a position approximately four to five shackles from the final
position of the bow and around 9 shackles paid out while moving ahead on engines.
Then as she falls astern with the tide the port anchor is let go and the starboard
anchor is heaved on to five shackles. This method restricts the swinging room and
reduces the load on windlass.
Standing Mooring : This is practiced during cross winds. As the vessel is stopped
the port anchor is let go and with the tide around 9 shackles are paid out. The
starboard anchor is let go and simultaneously port anchor heaved on. Thus the port
anchor is kept on 4 shackles being generally the flood anchor and starboard on five
as it is the ebb anchor. This vessel takes longer duration and provides less control
over the vessel . The load on windlass is more as compared to running moor.