INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION

E
IMO

MARITIME SAFETY COMMITTEE MSC 85/INF.4

85th session 24 September 2008
Agenda item 25 ENGLISH ONLY

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

OCIMF Mooring Equipment Guidelines 3rd Edition (MEG3)

Submitted by OCIMF

Executive summary:
Strategic direction:
High-level action:
Planned output:
Action to be taken:
Related documents:
SUMMARY
OCIMF has published the comprehensively revised 3rd edition of
Mooring Equipment Guidelines (MEG3). It is important that tanker
owners and operators, ship designers and ship builders, terminal
designers and operators are aware of changes in these guidelines.
It should also be noted that numerous aspects of the guidance
including many best practices set forth for tankers and tanker
terminals are equally applicable to other types of ships and
marine terminals
5.2
5.2.1
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Paragraph 9
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1 Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) has issued the comprehensively
revised Mooring Equipment Guidelines 3rd Edition (MEG3) 1st October 2008. This edition
supersedes Mooring Equipment Guidelines 2nd Edition 1997 and incorporates relevant material
from the following publications that have been removed from print:

.1 OCIMF Guidelines on the Use of High-Modulus Synthetic Fibre Ropes as

Mooring Lines on Large Tankers 1st Edition 2002;

.2 OCIMF Recommendation for Ships Fittings for Use with Tugs 1st Edition 2002;

.3 OCIMF Prediction of Wind and Current Loads on VLCCs 2nd Edition 1994; and

.4 OCIMF/SIGTTO Prediction of Wind Loads on Large Liquefied Gas Carriers

1st Edition, Reprinted 1995.

For reasons of economy, this document is printed in a limited number. Delegates are
kindly asked to bring their copies to meetings and not to request additional copies.

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2 The shipping industry has always been concerned with safe mooring practices.
One fundamental aspect of this concern is acknowledgement that safe mooring is a cooperative
venture between ship and shore operators and between ship and terminal designers. Another
entails development of mooring systems that are adequate for the intended service with
maximum integration of standards across the range of ship types and sizes. To further the aim of
safe mooring, OCIMF first published Mooring Equipment Guidelines in 1992. This latest edition
provides a major revision and update to the original content to reflect changes in ship and
terminal design, operating practices and advances in technology.

3 Although numerous standards, guidelines and recommendations concerning mooring

practices, mooring fittings and mooring equipment exist, where guidance is given it is often
incomplete. These guidelines provide an extensive overview of the requirements for safe
mooring from both a ship and terminal design and operation perspective. They embrace the full
spectrum of mooring issues from the calulation of the ships restraint requirements, the selection
of rope and fitting types to the retirement criteria for mooring lines.

4 A broad-based working group was established by OCIMF in 2006 to develop the text for
this edition with the participation of OCIMF members and representatives of other industry
associations including INTERTANKO, ICS, SIGTTO, IACS, IAPH, NI and IHMA. Valuable
contributions were also received from representatives of rope manufacturers, winch
manufacturers, equipment suppliers, shipyards and specialist consultants.

5 The following is an overview of the substantial changes included in this edition:

.1 Guidance has been expanded to account for site-specific conditions at terminals

and the impact on mooring patterns, prompting consideration of the need for more
rigorous analysis incorporating vessel motion and dynamic force calculations;

.2 reference has been made to the content of IMO MSC/Circ.1175 and

related IACS Unified Requirements;

.3 the concept of design-basis load has been introduced for establishing the required
strength of ships mooring fittings. The treatment of geometric effects, such as
wrap angle of a fitting, has been modified to align with practices in other
industries and is no longer included within quoted safety factors;

.4 it is recommended that all ships mooring fittings should be designed to carry the
minimum breaking load of the attached mooring. The recommendations
concerning the strength of ships mooring fittings are based upon the principle of
rope failure before fitting failure and fitting failure before hull or
foundation failure;

.5 recommendations on the marking of fittings are aligned with the requirements of

IMO MSC/Circ.1175, as adopted in SOLAS chapter II-1, regulation 3-8;

.6 full account has been taken of the introduction of new rope materials, such as
those manufactured from High Modulus Polyethylene (HMPE), and related
impact on equipment design and operation;

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.7 guidance on mooring line tails has been revised in light of industry experience,
particularly with regard to their use at exposed berths; and

.8 revised guidance is appended on the inspection and maintenance of mooring lines.

6 The publication attempts to refine, unify and update selected existing guidelines and to
add essential information that has either been omitted or poorly defined. Care has been taken to
ensure that design performance of equipment is optimized while not overlooking the equally
important factors of ease of handling and safety of personnel.

7 The guidelines represent a recommended minimum requirement and are intended to be

useful to ship and terminal designers and operators. Although primarily addressing tankers and
gas carriers, many of the recommendations are considered to be equally applicable to other
vessel types.

8 OCIMF Mooring Equipment Guidelines Third Edition (MEG3) is published by Witherby

Seamanship International. Additional details are available at the following links:

www.ocimf.com/custom.cfm?action=books

www.witherbyseamanship.com.

Action requested of the Committee

9 The Committee is invited to note this information.

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