In first quarter of 2020, Trelleborg will install six units of its AutoMoor T40 Twin Arm at the Old City Harbour’s Berth 13 cruise ferry wharf to facilitate faster berthing processes and improve safety levels within the port environment. Using vacuum technology to rapidly attach to and secure a vessel at berth, AutoMoor reduces vessel motions and continuously monitors all mooring loads acting on the vessel at berth. This provides live data to the operator to optimize day-to-day port and terminal operations. It also minimizes personnel involvement to reduce human error and improve safety.

Peeter Nogu, Chief Infrastructure Development Officer at the Port of Tallinn, said: “Berth 13 will service large cruise ferries from Finnish shipping companies including Viking Line and Eckero Line, on the Tallinn to Helsinki route across the Gulf of Finland, our busiest route. As a result, it was vital that we upgraded the berth to ensure a high vessel throughput. With that in mind, it was essential that the upgrade saw the adoption of automated mooring systems to facilitate quick, safe and reliable mooring operations.”

Trelleborg’s AutoMoor T40 Twin Arm has two mooring arms that can operate in synch or independently to provide flexible mooring of vessels with varying hull profiles, enabling ports to accept a greater range of vessel types. The AutoMoor T40 Twin Arm also has a compact footprint allowing for installation in limited spaces including between gantry rails and the wharf edge.

“With its unrivaled experience in delivering time-critical and high-profile projects, we’ve no doubt Trelleborg is the ideal partner for us and that its AutoMoor system will prove its worth in optimizing mooring operations at the berth once installed,” added Nogu.

Richard Hepworth, President of Trelleborg’s marine and infrastructure operation, said: “Along with Port of Langnas, Finland, where multiple AutoMoor units are to be installed across two berths,it’s great to see that forward-thinking port operators across the globe are acknowledging the operating benefits of the low power passive damping technology and innovative flexible mooring options that AutoMoor offers end users. They also value the 40 plus years of docking and mooring experience that Trelleborg brings to the automated mooring space. We thoroughly look forward to seeing the Port of Tallinn benefit considerably from the efficiencies provided by AutoMoor in the future.”

AutoMoor will be installed as part of the TWIN-PORT 3 project and are being co-financed by the EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), a collaboration between Tallink, Viking Line and Eckerö Line, the ports of Tallinn and Helsinki and the City of Helsinki. As part of the project’s total budget of 61.2 million EUR, the Port of Tallinn is investing a total of 15.8 million EUR.

Trelleborg’s AutoMoor solution falls under the operation’s SmartPort portfolio. SmartPort powers the critical interface between ship and port, on land and at sea. It connects port operations, allowing operators to analyze performance and use data to improve decision making. The system integrates assets like fenders, mooring equipment, ship performance monitoring, and navigation systems, underpinned by cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.