scope:

PURPOSE AND SCOPE.

This UFC provides requirements, guidance and procedures for operation and maintenance of permanent anchor moorings for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) vessels. This manual provides important technical data, information and recommended procedural guidelines for the operation, inspection, maintenance, repair, removal and refurbishment.

A mooring is any structure whose purpose is to restrain a ship's movement and keep it in a relatively fixed location. A mooring is of two general types, fixed moorings and compliant anchor moorings. Fixed moorings are defined as a system that includes both tension and compression members. These systems include facilities like piers and wharves, the components that connect the vessel to the fixed facility (lines, chain, etc.) as well as the fendering used to protect the vessel from damage due to contact with the facility. Compliant anchor moorings are defined as a stationary system that includes primarily tension members with mooring loads transferred into the earth via anchors. Active ship's anchor systems are excluded. This manual only addresses compliant anchor moorings, but many of the procedures described here are applicable to the inspection and maintenance of fixed mooring systems or their components.

This document standardizes mooring inspection procedures for both surface and underwater inspection and assist inspection personnel by describing the various typical permanent anchor mooring types and materials used and defining what should be accomplished before, during and after a mooring inspection. Also defined are the types of data and documentation that must be gathered and captured in the inspection report. The inspection's Engineer-in-Charge (EIC) will evaluate the inspection data and provide an assessment of the mooring's condition to meet its design requirements.

The document provides the inspector with a standard inspection template for the inspection of a mooring system, a sample preliminary inspection results email, a sample inspection report, inspection checklist, details of go no-go gauges and other inspection tools, and guidance on surveying of permanent anchor mooring buoys and anchors.

This document provides guidance for the maintenance and repair of the moorings based on the results of the inspection.