Appraisal of Lightweight Moorings for Deep Water

This paper outlines the potential advantages of using lightweight fibre ropes for mooring floating production platforms. The influence of tether properties on mooring system response is discussed. It is shown that a comparison of alternative ropes in terms of their mechanical properties is inadequate; relative merit can only be assessed through comparison of full systems that have been designed to minimum cost, and to common performance specifications. For catenary systems, it is found that a lightweight option using polyester fibre can outperform both traditional and more exotic solutions. The significant mechanical performance characteristics governing mooring systems design have been measured for a model tether.