Synthetic fibre rope polymer lined fairleads

Two of the major costs in mooring arrays will be the installation and the cost of top end connections of the mooring line to the device. This study seeks to prove out the technology of using fibre rope operating through a nylon lined fixed fairlead to replace conventional wire or chain systems.
This concept may deliver a step-change reduction in CAPEX, OPEX and reduced installation cost. It is a lighter, easier to handle, no maintenance through life, lower cost system compared to conventional methods. If this concept works it will break through a major technological barrier and will apply to any marine device whether renewable, oil and gas or any other marine device responding to 1st order wave motions. A testing program will be conducted to verify the method and quantify the fatigue damage accumulation to enable system designers to calculate wear. A full scale prototype will be built and installed for a field trial and data accumulated to verify the laboratory research.