For some 20 years, Cavotec has been enabling operators in the shipping industry to run their container, ferry, and bulk handling vessels more efficiently and safely, while minimising operating costs and environmental impact. The key to this is Cavotec’s Moormaster vacuum mooring machines—with one or more of these mounted to a port’s berth, vessels can be moored by a single operator in 30 seconds, as each machine presses a vacuum pad against the vessel. Once coupled, the Moormaster allows free draft and tidal movement, but minimises any movement parallel or perpendicular to the berth.
Caliber has been fortunate to be contributors in the design of the next generation machine, Moormaster NxG. Cavotec has amassed 20 years worth of vacuum mooring data, site experience, and customer feedback. On reflection, the opportunity arose to remove several barriers to entry, and to improve on the efficacy of the Moormaster design. Primarily, the berth space required to house a Moormaster was problematic—could the footprint be drastically reduced while retaining all of the functionality? With fresh insight on customer requirements, a task force of Caliber and Cavotec engineers brainstormed a plethora of concepts which were resolutely whittled back, leaving a unique new mechanism which allows a large range of motion in a small package, ease of control, a much simplified installation procedure, and manageable structural loads.
Once the format of the machine was settled, the team set about detailing structural, hydraulic, electrical, and aesthetic elements. A key success factor was the design team dynamic between Cavotec project management, and Cavotec and Caliber engineers. A blurring of role boundaries saw healthy dialogue on technical design challenges, product requirements, and how best to meet internal project requirements and deadlines. Throughout the design process, Caliber was able to provide staffing flexibility to match resource to workload, and to tailor technical expertise and soft skills to specific problems. Caliber engineers were fully integrated within the Cavotec team, attending social as well as professional events, but were able to also stay connected to the wider Caliber team and leverage a large pool of skill and technical content to aid in overcoming the particularly difficult design problems.
We’re very proud of the result, and can’t wait to see the first machines in service. For more information on Moormaster NxG head to Moormaster.com. And to read more about the challenges of mooring, and about Moormaster NxG’s first customer see this article on vacuum mooring.
MoorMaster NxG – A Collaborative Effort
