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.
