Patent ID: 8215256

Claim:
A method of controlling a vessel mooring system, said system including at least a first mooring robot for releasably fastening a vessel floating at the surface of a body of water to a terminal, the first mooring robot including an attractive force attachment element displaceably engaged to a base structure of said first mooring robot, said base structure being affixed to said terminal, said attractive force attachment element being releasably engageable with a vessel surface for making fast the vessel with said terminal, the first mooring robot providing active translational movement of the attractive force attachment element relative to the base structure to allow thereby the movement of a vessel in a direction selected from any one or more of (i) an athwartship direction, (ii) a longitudinal direction, and (iii) a vertical direction wherein said method, after the associating of the vessel with the mooring system by allowing the vessel surface to be engaged by the attractive force attachment element and the establishing of an attractive force between said vessel and said first mooring robot, comprises the steps of: (a) measuring the attractive force between the vessel surface and the attractive force attachment element, for the purposes of determining the holding capacity of the attractive force attachment element; (b) measuring the loading forces between the attractive force attachment element and the base structure of the first mooring robot in a direction selected from any one or more of three orthogonal directions; (c) monitoring the relationship between the attractive force and the loading forces, wherein an alarm signal is sent when any one or more of the loading forces in one or more directions holding capacity of the attractive force attachment element in that direction to thereby allow relative movement between the vessel and the attractive force attachment element wherein said alarm signal actuates any one or more selected from: i) varying said attractive force of the attractive attachment element of the first mooring robot, ii) triggering an alarm, iii) controlling of the displacement of the attractive force attachment element of the first mooring robot relative to its base structure, to move it in a direction to prevent relative movement between said vessel and said attractive force attachment element; and iv) controlling of the displacement of the attractive force attachment element of a second mooring robot relative to its base structure to increase the loading force on a second mooring robot, thereby to reduce the loading force on the first mooring robot to assist in preventing relative movement between said vessel and said attractive force attachment element of said first mooring robot; v) controlling of the displacement of the attractive force attachment element to cause the variation of the attractive force exerted by the attractive force attachment element of said second mooring robot; and vi) generating of a signal.