Post-Panamax Container Ship Access at Port of Miami

Abstract

In 2002, the Port of Miami-Dade requested that CH2M HILL assess Maersk S-Class container ship transit and mooring guidelines for the Port of Miami-Dade Capital Improvement Program. The S-Class vessels, with a reported container capacity of 6,600 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), have a length of 347.0 m, a beam of 42.8 m (post-panamax), and a maximum draft of 14.5 m. To date, the Maersk Sealand Atlantic Class vessel is the largest container vessel to operate at the Port of Miami, with a length of 290.0 m, a beam of 32.3 m (panamax), a draft of 10.7 m, and a capacity of 4,400 TEUs. The assessment involved two phases of work. The first phase required a real-time ship navigation simulation study at the RTM STAR Center in Dania Beach, Florida. The second phase utilized information obtained in the simulation study to evaluate passing S-Class ship effects on a moored S-Class container ship at the east container berths. This paper discusses the performance and results of the STAR Center's operational evaluation of container vessels relative to safety of navigation issues and summarizes the significant passing ship effects on moored vessels. Based on the prevailing environmental conditions of wind and current in Fisherman's Channel, passing ship forces on a moored vessel are compared with environmental forces on the moored vessel. General S-Class vessel transit and mooring guidelines that support the safety of navigation and moored vessels at the Port of Miami-Dade are presented.