PIANC WG211

PIANC WG211 is the Maritime Navigation Commission Working Group whose report, the PIANC Guidelines for the Design of Fender Systems, was completed in 2022 and published in 2024 to replace the 2002 WG33 guidelines. It moves fender design from a single global safety factor to partial safety factors derived from statistical berthing data, manufacturers’ performance data, and uncertainty in the berthing-energy calculation. For comparable inputs the new method generally yields marginally smaller fenders, and a transition period to 1 November 2025 let suppliers retype catalogues. WG211 is now the primary reference for berthing-energy absorption and fender selection worldwide.