1218

APPROACH VELOCITY (VB)

Berthing speeds depend on the ease or difficulty of the approach, the exposure of the berth and the vessels size.
Conditions are normally divided into five categories as shown in the charts key table.
The most widely used guide to approach speeds is the Brolsma table, adopted by BS1, PIANC2 and other standards.
For ease of use, speeds for the main vessel sizes are shown at the bottom of this page.

0.8
a
b
c
d
e

0.7

VB

Approach velocity, VB (m/s)

e
0.6

Berthing condition
Easy berthing, sheltered
Difficult berthing, sheltered
Easy berthing, exposed
Good berthing, exposed
Difficult berthing, exposed

d
0.5
c

0.4

most commonly
used conditions

0.3
b
0.2
a
0.1
USE WITH CAUTION
0
1,000

10,000

100,000

500,000

Deadweight (DWT)*
* PIANC suggests using DWT from 50% or 75% confidence limit ship tables.

Velocity, VB (m/s)
DWT

1,000

0.179

0.343

0.517

0.669

0.865

2,000

0.151

0.296

0.445

0.577

0.726

3,000

0.136

0.269

0.404

0.524

0.649

4,000

0.125

0.250

0.374

0.487

0.597

5,000

0.117

0.236

0.352

0.459

0.558

10,000

0.094

0.192

0.287

0.377

0.448

20,000

0.074

0.153

0.228

0.303

0.355

30,000

0.064

0.133

0.198

0.264

0.308

40,000

0.057

0.119

0.178

0.239

0.279

50,000

0.052

0.110

0.164

0.221

0.258

100,000

0.039

0.083

0.126

0.171

0.201

200,000

0.028

0.062

0.095

0.131

0.158

300,000

0.022

0.052

0.080

0.111

0.137

400,000

0.019

0.045

0.071

0.099

0.124

500,000

0.017

0.041

0.064

0.090

0.115

B Approach velocities less than

0.1m/s should be used with
caution.
B Values are for tug-assisted
berthing.
B Spreadsheets for calculating the
approach velocity and berthing
energy are available at
www.trelleborg.com/marine .
B Actual berthing velocities can be
measured, displayed and recorded
using a SmartDock Docking Aid
System (DAS) by Harbour Marine.

Harbour Marine is part of

Trelleborg Marine Systems.

Caution: low berthing speeds are easily exceeded.

M1100-S12-V1.1-EN
Trelleborg AB, 2007