Barge Mooring Trainer

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Top-down view. The river runs vertically — up is upstream, barge is lying bow-upstream at an oil dock. Rig lines from the barge's kevels to the dock pilings, set the tide, then drag the barge and let go. A line only pulls — it stops the barge moving opposite to the way it leads.

⚠ Simulation only — read this first

This is a simplified teaching tool for learning concepts. It is not a substitute for hands-on training, your company's procedures, a vessel-specific mooring plan, or the orders of your captain and tankerman-PIC. The physics here are simplified on purpose; real barges, lines, winches, and wires behave with more force and less forgiveness than any simulation — they can injure and kill. Never stand in the bight, never straddle a line, stay out of snap-back zones, and never apply anything you see here on deck without proper supervision.

1 · Rig lines

Click a kevel on the barge, then a piling on the dock. Then name the line you meant to hang — the trainer checks your call against how it actually leads. A forward lead stops her going astern, a backing lead stops her going ahead, a breast only holds her on the dock. Lines go up single part unless you double them — two parts share the load and hold twice as much. The four corner winches (W1–W4) put up wire — winched tight, stiff and strong, it takes the steady load while your lines soak up the shocks. But wire has no stretch: when it goes, it goes without warning. Click a rigged line to adjust or take it in.

2 · Tide / current

Slack water — no current pushing the barge. The easy window to tend lines.

3 · Test it

Drag the barge along the dock and release. Taut lines turn red and pull. Overload a line far enough and it parts — then its load cascades onto the next one, just like the real thing.

4 · Passing traffic

Once she's tied off, send traffic by. The real sequence: she gets pulled back toward the boat coming at her, sucked off the dock as it passes abeam, then dragged after it once it's by — the worst snatch comes after the stern clears, when she fetches up on slack lines. This is a loaded ~5,000-ton barge: once a passing ship gets that much steel moving, a few single leads won't stop it. An empty ship at 9 mph will part single leads and take her away — to hold that you need your winch wires and doubled-up lines. Fast beats heavy: force runs with speed squared, which is why a light tow at 9 works her harder than a loaded one at 5.

Your lines

Nothing rigged yet — the barge is loose.

Deck log

Start: click a kevel on the barge to hang your first line.

Training simulation only — concepts, not procedures. Grounded in published mooring research and NTSB casualty reports; sources in the companion document. © CrewChange Jobs · a service of JackStaff Digital LLC · crewchangejobs.com

How to use this trainer

Your job: tie the red barge to the dock so she stays put — through river current and passing boats. The trick: cover both directions. Something has to stop her sliding forward, something has to stop her sliding backward, and something has to hold her against the dock.
  1. Hang a line. Click a yellow dot on the barge — those are kevels, the metal fittings you tie rope to. Then click a brown post on the dock (a piling). A rope appears between them.
  2. Name your line. A little menu asks what kind of line you meant to hang. Pick one. Get it wrong and the trainer tells you what you actually hung — that's how you learn the names. You'll also pick how much slack to leave, and whether to run it single part or doubled up (two parts) — two parts share the load and hold twice as much.
  3. The gray boxes on the four corners (W1–W4) are winches. Click one to run steel wire instead of rope. Wire is stronger and comes up tight, but it has no stretch — when it breaks, it breaks with no warning.
  4. Set the water. Slack = still water. Ebb = river running down the screen. Flood = running up. The current pushes on your barge the whole time.
  5. Test your work. Grab the barge with your mouse, drag it, and let go. Lines pull back when they come tight — they turn red under strain, and they snap if they take more than they can stand.
  6. Send traffic past. Pick a passing tow or ship and watch its wake work your rig: she gets pulled toward the boat, sucked off the dock, then snatched after it passes. This barge is loaded and heavy — a passing ship can rip single lines right out. Moor her heavy (doubled lines and the corner wires) and see the difference.
  7. If it all goes wrong you'll see BREAKAWAY — she's loose and gone with the river. No harm done in here: hit Reset barge and rig her better. Losing a barge in this trainer is the whole point.