Mooring bollard load

Mooring-bollard load is the design force a quay’s mooring fitting must resist from the ship’s lines under wind, current, and surge. BS 6349 and OCIMF mooring guidance set characteristic bollard loads that scale with vessel size, from around 100 kN at small berths to 1,000 to 2,000 kN at large tanker and container terminals, applied at the bollard in any line direction up to a defined angle above horizontal. The load case sizes the bollard casting, its holding-down bolts, and the local deck or capping-beam reinforcement, since a pull-out failure can part a line under tension. Bollard spacing follows the design vessel’s mooring pattern so each line stays within its safe working angle.