Experimental study on hydrodynamic characteristics and operational feasibility of floating LNG bunkering terminal moored side-by-side with LNG Carrier and two LNG bunkering shuttles

In this study, hydrodynamic characteristics and operational feasibility of a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering terminal moored side-by-side with an LNG carrier and two LNG bunkering shuttles were investigated, during the LNG transferring process. Experiments consisted of two configurations, namely the soft spring moorings individually and the side-by-side mooring system. Motion response amplitude operators (RAOs) and wave drift force RAOs in regular waves were measured from the former configuration while the latter configuration was used to obtain global motion responses, structural loads acting on ship-to-ship mooring lines and relative displacements between LNG loading arms and their manifolds. The gap flow effect was considered by conducting comparisons of the numerical and experimental results with various radiation body boundary damping values. The results provided insights into the structural reliability of side-by-side mooring lines and the applicability of a conventional rigid LNG loading arm.