Impact from ships

In this chapter the berthing forces that can arise between a berth structure and a berthing ship will be discussed. The berthing forces transmitted to the structure will consist of impact loads normal to, and frictional loads parallel to, the berthing face.

While the vertical loads on a berth from deadweight, live load, crane loads, etc. can be determined very accurately, it can be very difficult to evaluate the horizontal loads caused by the impact of ships. The size and velocity of ships when berthing, the manoeuvring, direction and strength of current, wind and waves at the berth are factors that often escape an exact quantification, and therefore tend to complicate the correct calculation of the impact forces of ships.