Effective and Efficient Breakwater Design for Trading Vessels and FPSOs

Breakwaters obviously need to fulfil their function (protecting sensitive structures or cargo) while at the same time remaining intact and imposing manageable loads onto supporting structure. It goes without saying that such breakwaters should be cost effective, so that complex designs with extensive welding may not be preferable. In this paper the authors will discuss green water loading on breakwaters for trading vessels like container ships which have forward speed and FPSOs which have zero speed. Different generic designs of V shape, vane type, double skin with and without holes and forward sloping forecastle (whaleback deck) breakwaters applied to trading vessels will be discussed. Guidelines for modelling green water horizontal loading on breakwaters of FPSOs and trading vessels using CFD techniques will be provided. The paper will also include a review of breakwater design criteria in rules and regulations.