Port of Tallinn, Automated vacuum mooring at Old City Harbour

Tallinn Old City Harbour serves frequent ferries on the Tallinn-Helsinki route. With conventional mooring, linemen on the quay take ten or more minutes to secure each ship with mooring lines and bollards (Port of Tallinn, 2021). Research on mooring systems notes that automated mooring can reduce the risk of seafarer casualties by removing ropes and snap-back zones (Nazligul and Yazir, 2023). In December 2021 the Port of Tallinn reported that ships on the Tallinn-Helsinki route now use automated mooring equipment when arriving at and leaving Old City Harbour (Port of Tallinn, 2021).

Approach

Vacuum mooring on three quays. The port installed vacuum automooring equipment from two suppliers. Quays 5 and 12 have Cavotec equipment and quay 13 has Trelleborg equipment (Port of Tallinn, 2021).

Remote control by the captain. The whole system is remotely controlled and can only be operated by the captain (Port of Tallinn, 2021). This removes the need for linemen to handle ropes at the quay edge during routine berthing.

Clear operating limits. The port set a wind limit of 17 m/s. When the wind blows perpendicular to the ship, the vessel's mooring lines are also used to ensure safety (Port of Tallinn, 2021).

Joint funding with ferry operators. The systems were installed under the TWIN-PORT 3 project, co-financed by the EU Connecting Europe Facility. The project brought together Tallink, Viking Line, Eckero Line, the ports of Tallinn and Helsinki and the City of Helsinki for 2018 to 2023, with a total budget of EUR 61.2 million. The Port of Tallinn invested EUR 15.8 million within the project (Port of Tallinn, 2021).

Results

Mooring now takes less than two minutes, compared with ten or more minutes using linemen, lines and bollards (Port of Tallinn, 2021). The port notes that time saved at the quay lets ships sail a little slower, cutting fuel use and emissions. The supplier Cavotec estimated that the time saved reduces harmful emissions in the city center by an amount equal to some 10,000 diesel cars and cuts up to 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year (Port of Tallinn, 2021). These are supplier estimates, not measured results.