Virtual Floor Mooring System
A project introduced at the ENG Committee
A presentation was made at ENG 21 by the Port of Barcelona. The port is collaborating with the Barcelona Nautical Faculty (FNB) on a research project called ‘Moonline’, concerning a particular mooring system known as the Virtual Floor Mooring System.
This takes account of a method known as virtual mooring based on a two-body system, a submerged buoy placed mid-water and connected to the seabed anchor keeps the chain permanently tensioned and lifted off the bottom, while a surface buoy provides the navigational function. This will significantly reduce the swinging circle radius compared to conventional designs. No part of the chain is in contacts with the seabed. Such an approach offers a major environmental advantage in areas where high ecological value ecosystems are found.
The Port of Barcelona is firmly committed to improving the resilience, safety, and sustainability of maritime operations, particularly as extreme weather events become more frequent in the Mediterranean region.
In this context, the development of advanced tools for the design and monitoring of mooring and navigational systems is of clear strategic importance for the port.
The FNB submitted this project to the annual call for proposals by the IAMU (International Association of Maritime Universities*).
The project will involve both the development of numerical models and real-world measurements, achieved by installing sensors on one of the port’s buoys to refine the accuracy of the final calculations, to finally create an accurate modelling tool.
It also includes the creation of a virtual model, which will provide real-time access to this information.
The project input document from FNB is attached .
At IALA the ENG Committee was invited to consider the documentation.
*See here: https://iamu-edu.org IAMU currently comprises: 81 universities/academies/faculties of the world’s maritime education and training institutions, and The Nippon Foundation as its members, total 82 altogether.
IALA e-Bulletin Rapporteur: Paul Ridgway.