Projects
Navy Frigate Berthing Feasibility Study

Location: Henderson, Western Australia


Scope

The client engaged our team to conduct a mooring feasibility study for a defence contractor’s berth facility in Henderson, WA. The facility consists of a small concrete wharf, complemented with dolphin piles and a second berth consisting only of dolphin piles. The goal for the project: to semi-permanently moor these vessels and assess the limitations to do so.

Execution

Our consulting work began by framing the study into a basis of design, collating the requirements of the scope, environment characteristics, and facility and vessel information, while also defining our approach to the study.

We conducted a static mooring analysis for a vessel alongside both berths during an extreme event using the industry-standard software Optimoor. This analysis was used to determine the utilisation of the mooring lines, fenders, piles and bollards at the facility. Our work also identified the limiting environment, mooring arrangements, clearance requirements for dredging, and the effect of passing vessels.

Outcomes and benefits

Our team’s expertise identified the limitations on each of the berths through both analytical and operational review. This work provided assurance to the client that the vessels would remain alongside the berth in extreme events, which is a unique requirement for most berthing facilities.

We helped reduce the risk for the client – our multi-industry experience meant the assessment could be undertaken with energy industry standard guidelines, which we are intimately familiar with. In this way, we were able to ensure the correct adoption of these standards for the project.

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