Dyneema: Excellent Reliability for Mooring Operations

Little wear after six years and good for many more

The visual inspection concluded that the ropes, which are protected with a sleeve where they come into contact with the fairlead, were still in good condition. They showed little wear even after six years of operations. Further inspection showed that the ropes should be capable of providing 10 years of service life at their current rate of wear. And with an end-to-end switch, they could last even longer.

“After more than six years spent operating in a variety of extreme conditions, the rope continues to perform reliably with minimal maintenance,” says Gu Fang, First Mate of the Cosjade Lake. “We have not needed to make any replacements and the ropes show only a little wear. In fact, they have helped us to reduce the personnel, time and resources needed to moor a vessel of more than 298, 000 tonnes, allowing the crew to focus on other operational needs on the vessel.”

16 VLCC vessels with mooring ropes with Dyneema®, and plans for more

It’s a convincing case for Cosco Dalian, as Zhao Jin Wen, the company’s Deputy General Manager notes: “The performance, quality and reliability of the mooring ropes with Dyneema® have clearly benefitted our operations, as well as the health and safety of our employees and the environment. Since 2008, when we had the first successful trial, we have gone on to equip 16 of our VLCCs with ropes made with Dyneema® and we are looking to equip more of our vessels in the near future.”

Kedar Sule, Marketing Manager Maritime at DSM Dyneema, says: “At DSM Dyneema, we offer our rope-making partners a wide range of support. This means we not only underwrite the performance and reliability of each and every Dyneema® fiber, we also provide expertise through our global application development and technical service team. The result, as in the case of the Cosjade Lake, is outstanding performance over the long-term.