Figure 5. Rear of fluke, showing base plate and holes for shear pins. 

 MOORING DESIGN 



Moorings were required on an intermittent to frequent basis for the 

 offloading of POL from tankers. The permanent moor was designated for 

 use by tankers up to and including the AOE-1 SACRAMENTO Class 53,600 

 dead weight tons displacing (dwt) (54,500 metric tons), whereas the 

 temporary moor was limited to the AO-143 T5 Class, displacing 38,000 dwt 

 (38,600 metric tons). A four-point spread mooring was required at each 

 site in order that ships would remain relatively stationary while offload- 

 ing fuel into installed submarine pipelines. The moorings were required 

 to be maintained in winds up to 27 knots (14 m/s) with gusts up to 36 

 knots (19 m/s) and with currents up to 0.5 knot (0.26 m/s) from any 

 direction. In this environment, the maximum forces imposed on a mooring 

 buoy by the vessel in a four-point spread mooring were determined by 

 Fluor Corporation (1973) to be 152,000 pounds (680 kN) for the AOE-1 and 

 115,000 pounds (510 kN) for the AO-143. 



It was required that these moorings be anchored at sites having 

 variable coraline seafloors. Site conditions were reported by opera- 

 tional personnel and confirmed by diver reconnaissance to be coral heads 

 and coral overlain by a loose gravel/sand /silt sediment at the permanent 

 site, and bare coral at the temporary site. The installed conventional 

 drag-burial anchors at the temporary site were not embedded and were 

 visible on the seafloor surface, showing signs of having been dragged 

 without becoming buried. Standard penetration tests conducted in the 



8 



