Design and analysis of a Single Buoy Mooring line in the Gulf of Guinea

In this study, the design and analysis of a Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) system tailored for the Gulf of Guinea was carried out. The research addressed the frequent mooring failures caused by the region’s severe environmental conditions, including wave heights up to 4.2 m and current speeds of 1.8 m/s. Unlike previous studies focused on regions like the North Sea or Gulf of Mexico, this work provides a region-specific framework integrating environmental analysis, material evaluation, and dynamic simulation. Results showed that wave and current forces reached 1.2 kN/m and 0.8 kN/m, respectively, under storm conditions. Polyester mooring lines demonstrated a safety factor of 3.2, a significant improvement over steel’s 2.1, due to superior fatigue and corrosion resistance. Dynamic tension variation reached 600 kN, 40% of the pretension load. A Finite Element Model (FEM) predicted mooring tensions within 8% of measured data, confirming its reliability. The study concludes that synthetic materials combined with optimized design significantly enhance mooring safety in the Gulf of Guinea. It is recommended that offshore operators adopt polyester-based lines, implement real-time monitoring, and use region-specific simulation tools. This research contributes a validated, practical framework to improve mooring reliability and operational safety in similar harsh marine environments.