What is Mooring of Ships?

Since childhood, we have been intrigued by this question: How are ships ‘parked’ upon their arrival in ports, jetties, and piers? Unlike cars, they can’t simply be put off gear and parking brakes! Ships don’t have brakes in the first place.

Ships need to be fastened and fixated soundly for conducting all kinds of shore operations such as cargo loading/unloading, refuelling, bunkering, ballasting/deballasting, boarding/deboarding, maintenance, repairing, and often for idle times based on voyage schedules and berth or workforce availability.

So, mooring, or the system of soundly securing a vessel for the purposes mentioned above, is indispensable in studying ships and offshore structures. 

Differences between mooring, docking and anchoring

It is expected to get confused with the terms mooring, docking, and anchoring, and they may be used interchangeably. But there are stark differences between them. 

Anchoring is the system of securing a vessel amid the sea when the ship is not near the vicinity of a permanent structure. In other words, when a vessel needs to be fastened