Abstract: This paper developed a generalized mathematical model on ship mooring maneuver, and used it to predict and analyze the dynamic response of ship in various mooring situations, in which a separate submodel determining the anchor holding force in different conditions was proposed and then formulated in detail. The entire model consists of three parts: the maneuvering motion of surface ship is described by classic MMG maneuverability model, while the underwater mooring chain by lumped parameter method, and the anchor’s dynamics is incorporated into chain through treating it as a mass point at the end of mooring chain because of its small dimensions. At the end, this model was used to predict and analyze the dynamic response of a typical surface ship. The results reveal some valuable conclusions.

Key words: ship maneuverability, mooring maneuvering, mooring chain, numerical simulation