Out with the old — in with the new

MoorMasterTM is an automated mooring technology that eliminates the need for conventional mooring lines. Remote controlled vacuum pads recessed in, or mounted on, the quayside, moor and release vessels in seconds. The system offers improved safety, improved operational efficiency and the potential for infrastructure savings.
MoorMaster^TM has performed some 40,000 mooring operations to date at bulk handling, ferry, Ro-Ro, container and lock applications worldwide.
In June, Cavotec won a major order for the technology, under which Cavotec will manufacture, install and commission 24 MoorMaster^TM MM200C units at an exposed container berth at a Mediterranean Sea port.This is the second application for the container version of MoorMaster^TM, following an order from the Port of Salalah in Oman for 12 of these units in 2009.
“The degree of automation and associated safety and productivity gains that MoorMaster^TM offers represents a genuine step-change in mooring operations,” notes Patrick Rosenwald, managing director of Cavotec MoorMaster.
Another recent adopter of the technology is Australian mining company Karara Mining, which ordered 12 MoorMaster^TM MM200D earlier this year for use at their dedicated iron ore handling facility at the Port of Geraldton in Western Australia.
Situated some 400km north of Perth, the Port of Geraldton is one of Australia’s busiest regional ports. The port has historically been one of Australia’s larger grain export ports and today, more than half the port’s exports are generated from minerals and iron ore.
MoorMaster^TM is already in use at another bulk handling application in Western Australia: 14 MM200B (bulk) units were commissioned at Port Hedland’s iron ore loading facility last year.
The units at Port Hedland are built to withstand the harsh operating environment at the port where the iron ore facility is especially exposed: it is situated on the mouth of a tidal inflow area, with a tidal range of up to five metres. While the systems are not required to moor vessels during cyclones, they are able to compensate for the port’s exceptional changes in tide levels.
In a third application for Australia’s bulk handling sector, Cavotec has delivered eight MM200D units for the Dampier Fuel Supply Wharf in the Port of Dampier. In New Zealand, KiwiRail recently ordered
two MoorMaster^TM units for use on a ferry route between North and South Island. These were commissioned in the first quarter of 2011.
Since MoorMaster^TM first entered service in 1998, it has been adapted for several applications including container ports, ferry services and even a version for locks. The system first saw service on a rail passenger ferry route between Wellington and Picton, New Zealand. In 2003, the Port of Melbourne adopted the technology on a dedicated berth used by two Ro-Ro vessels.
MoorMaster^TM was adopted in Scandinavia for the first time in 2009, when Denmark- based Nordic Ferry Services installed four MM400 units to service high-frequency passenger ferry routes between the island of Samsø and the Danish mainland.
The extent to which MoorMaster^TM can be adapted to suit different operating environments is highlighted by an application at Canada’s St. Lawrence Seaway, where four MM200LS units are in service.These units have been specifically designed to secure vessels through changes in water level of up to 14 metres.
Cavotec has also been commissioned to work on two projects to research and develop ATEX (explosion proof) approved MoorMaster^TM systems, potentially for use at LNG berths. It is also currently working with several other customers on modifying the technology to suit a variety of applications.
Ship-to-ship applications, offshore facilities, such as floating storage and re-gasification units, are areas where the technology could also be adapted.
Cavotec’s other innovative technologies in the ports sector include shore-to-ship power systems (AMP), Panzerbelt cable protection systems, crane controllers, marine propulsion slip rings, power chains and connectors, radio remote controls, motorized and spring driven cable reels and steel chains.
Cavotec is a global engineering group, developing innovative technologies that enable the maritime, airports, mining and tunnelling, and general industry sectors to operate more sustainably.