THE MOORING SERIES — SAFE MOORING PRACTICE

The last third part “The Mooring Series”, and this one addresses the safe mooring practices. We remind you to use the whole package consisting of two other videos dealing with the theory of mooring and maintenance of mooring systems, and associated booklet. Mooring is a routine operation on every ship. It is carried out by day or night, in good weather or bad, in winter and summer.

Because of the large forces involved in mooring operations, they do present a serious risk to the personnel’s safety. Good planning and briefing of personnel is very important to minimize these risks. Also, mooring teams must always work in their safety shoes and gloves, they must use the chin straps on their helmets, and they should avoid stepping on lines and must never stay in the snap back zones. Most importantly, they must always be aware of the operations going on around them.

Safe mooring is also the key to efficient cargo operations. The ship must be positioned correctly and held securely; however, the forces of wind and current may vary. Taking into account that the possible failure of the mooring system poses serious hazard, the first thing for the responsible officer to do is the risk assessment, considering any given circumstances at the mooring station. The assessment shall cover all mooring schemes that the ship is likely to encounter…