PIANC Publishes Updated Criteria for Acceptable Movement of Ships at Berths by MarCom Working Group 212. Brussels, Belgium – 26 June 2023 – The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure – also known as PIANC – has published a new report titled Updated Criteria for Acceptable Movement of Ships at Berths. The report was prepared by an international panel of experts and practicing professionals who were appointed to PIANC’s MarCom Working Group 212 (WG212). This new report prepared by WG212 builds upon previous guidance and better reflects current – and emerging – conditions within shipping industry.
The primary audience for this report is comprised of engineers, port and marine terminal developers, operators, owners, port authorities, regulatory authorities, cargo handling equipment manufacturers, and mariners. The working group members considered the following types of vessels in preparing the report: oil tankers, liquid bulk/gas tankers, dry bulk carriers, general cargo vessels, container vessels, RoRo ships, cruise vessels, and smaller vessels. Military and heavy lift vessels have not been considered.
The newly issued Updated Criteria for Acceptable Movement of Ships at Berths was developed through a three -year collaborative process that included review of existing relevant literature, data collection through questionnaires issued to multiple terminal operators and port authorities worldwide, and assessment of field collected vessel motions data. Through this process it was determined that select criteria contained in prior reports (WG24 and WG115) needed to be updated, while other criteria were still applicable. The criteria contained in the new WG212 report are generic in nature. The criteria contained in the WG212 report are intended to be used as an initial basis of discussion between designers and their clients during development of project-specific design requirements.
The basis of these criteria and how they were derived is described in the report to allow potential users to assess the applicability of these criteria to the specific needs and circumstances of each individual project. Engineers and other relevant professionals can adopt values different from the ones recommended within WG212 report based on local requirements, site-specific assessment, expert judgement, or on other relevant considerations. Where appropriate, a distinction has been made in this report between criteria related to efficiency and/or safety. This new report supersedes and replaces WG24 and WG115 reports.
