Los Angeles SNAME Discussed Single-Point Mooring Technology

The final 1980-81 meeting of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Section of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers attracted 60 members and guests to the decks of the Princess Louise.

This session was dedicated to past chairmen of the Section and to the introduction of new officers, selected to serve for the 1981-82 season, which begins in September.

The new officers are: George Stiehl, chairman of the Section; George Henning, vice chairman; Dr. Maxwell Cheung, secretarytreasurer; and Gary Cash and Hans Schaefer, who were drafted to fill vacancies on the Executive Committee.

Prior to the presentation of the evening's technical paper, chairman- elect Stiehl presented a certificate of appreciation to outgoing chairman Edward (Ned) Stewart for a job well done. He then introduced Robert Mende, secretary and executive director of SNAME, who was in town to discuss arrangements for the annual SNAME Star Symposium, to be hosted by the Los Angeles Section in the spring of 1984 at Century City.

The paper titled "OTEC-1 Mooring" was coauthored and presented by Harold Ramsden and William Watts of Global Marine.

Mr. Ramsden, who coincidentally was selected to hold the key position of Steering Committee chairman for the Star Symposium, began by describing the Department of Energy-sponsored OTEC-1 program. That program was officially discontinued in April 1981 after establishing three technological firsts: (1) the world's largest ammonia power plant; (2) the world's first significant large-scale cold water pipe; and (3) the world's deepest large-capacity, single-point moor. The last "first" was the subject of the paper, and proved extremely interesting as a primer on a current stage of single-point mooring technology.

The mooring system was tailored to a site, off the west coast of the "big island" of Hawaii, chosen for the OTEC evaluation because it best met the 18 criteria established by the D.O.E.

The paper clearly detailed the material and technological tradeoffs made by the Global Marine team, led by coauthor Watts, in progressing from a preliminary design to the exciting deployment of the operational mooring system that included a 300,000 pound chain "mass anchor." The presentation was followed by a lively question-and-answer session.

For those interested in gaining in-depth knowledge of the trials and tribulations required to design a successful singlepoint moor, a copy of the paper is available and may be obtained, for a reproduction and mailing fee, by writing to the SNAME Los Angeles librarian: James Bibeau, 5316 White Fox Drive, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.

90274.

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 18, Jul 1981

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Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.