Field measurements of angular motions of a vessel at berth: Inertial device application

Abstract

The study and characterization of the oscillations of a moored vessel has a major importance in port operational efficiency, not only in the design of mooring and anchoring systems, but also in order to prevent the movement of the cargo, minimize ship and dock damage and optimizing the operations which have to take place while the ship is moored.The dynamic behavior of a vessel moored in waves has been mathematically described and interactions between ships and environmental loads such as waves, wind, currents and ice are commonly tested for different docks and mooring systems in scale models. However, field data studies of the behavior moored ships have not been properly addressed so far.This paper proposes a novel application of Inertial Measurement Units to estimate the angular movements (roll, pitch and yaw) of a moored vessel. The proposed technique has been validated in laboratory conditions and the behavior of the ship Urania Mella in the Outer Port of Punta Langosteira (A Coruña, Spain), has been analyzed, obtaining very promising results.