Proceedings of The Fifteenth (2005) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference Seoul, Korea, June 1924, 2005

Copyright 2005 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers ISBN 1-880653-64-8 (Set); ISSN 1098-6189 (Set)

Challenging Port Deadweight Limitations for Newly Designed Crude Oil and Product Carriers
Abobakr M. Radwan
Consulting Services Department, Saudi Aramco Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT
Millions of dollars may be saved if owners of Loading Terminals allow newly designed crude and product oil carriers to berth at their facilities that presently restrict accepting ships based on Deadweight capacity. This paper examines a generic 100,000 DWT double-hull/double-bottom tanker to berth at a generic loading facility that restricted the service to 80,000 DWT tankers. The paper shall provide procedures to check the facility structures against the loads imposed by the tanker, and will prove that it is safe to service the tanker at the loading facility. Loading arms limitations and shipshore gangway access are also examined.

Ship-shore access was also examined to ensure safe personnel transfer from the ship to shore. Cargo transfer parameters (Loading Arms limitations) were also examined to ensure safe cargo transfer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FACILTY

Berth A consists of two main breasting dolphins, two secondary breasting dolphins, and four (4) mooring dolphins and a loading platform, all interconnected by walkways. The breasting dolphins are spaced 85 m, symmetrically with respect to the loading platform centerline. The breasting dolphins are supported by four (4) piles, 1067 mm diameter each, and driven 16 m into the ground. Three (3), 75-ton capacity Quick Release Hooks are provided on all mooring dolphins. The distance between the farthest most mooring dolphins is 245 m. The distance between the edge of the loading platform and the face of the fender panels (fender line), when the dolphins are in the relaxed condition, is five (5) m. The mooring dolphins are 25m from the fender line. The water depth at the berth is about 16 m. Berth A configurations are shown in Appendix A. The rules and regulations of the berth states that the operating environmental conditions for berthing are for storm conditions relative to a 100-year return, (wind= 28 m/s, significant wave height of five (5) m with associated wave period of 8 to 10 seconds, and current of 0.7 m/s). For mooring design, the 50 yr return storm was chosen with wind speed of 25 m/s, significant wave height of 3 m, with associated wave period of 7.5 to 9.5 seconds, and current of 0.7 m/s). Design Air Temperature range between 12 degree C to 50 degree C, while sea temp. range between 20 degree C to 33 degree C.

KEY WORDS: Loading Terminal; Double-Hull; Double-Bottom;

Berth restrictions.

INTRODUCTION
The present acceptance criterion for servicing ships at Berth A, in a Generic Loading Terminal limits the berth to 80,000 DWT size vessels. The tanker in question, The Star, is a VLCC (Very Large Crude Oil Carrier) has a load carrying capacity of 100,000 DWT which in excess of berth limitation. It is the intent of this paper to show that Deadweight alone should not be the only parameter to set berth limitation, since the relationship between deadweight and size of ships varied considerably because of the recent international regulatory requirements in ship hull characteristics. Berth A consisted of 4 breasting dolphins, 4 mooring dolphins and a loading platform. Berthing energy of The Star was calculated for a typical approach recommended by the international agencies (OCIMF, British Standards BS 6349) and compared to the allowable breasting dolphins capabilities to establish the maximum allowable displacement and velocity for The Star. To examine the suitability of the berth for mooring the 248 m long ship using the typical 16 line configuration, series of dynamic mooring simulations were performed to ensure that mooring line tensions and fender loads are within the allowable limits.

BERTHING CONIDERATIONS
The breasting dolphins were designed for predominant loads resulting from berthing a conventional 80,000 DWT design ship at a 40% ballasted condition (48,500 Ton arrival displacement). The four steelpiled breasting dolphin was designed for a berthing energy of 52

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