The Port of Lübeck and its biggest terminal, the Skandinavienkai, play a key role as the largest ferry port in the Baltic Sea, specializing in RoRo traffic to Sweden, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. The economic progress and sea trade forecasts show that in the near future, ships of up to 250 meters long and 38 meters wide can be expected in this part of the Baltic Sea.
For that reason, the port authority and the port operator—Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft—decided to demolish the 40-year-old Pier 5 at Skandinavienkai and replace it with a new, state-ofthe- art terminal.
In partnership with the contractor awarded with the construction works, SFT designed 17 fender systems to provide safe berthing at Skandinavienkai for the next generation of vessels. The project scope included nine FE Element Fender (1,400-by-1,500 mm, G2.1), one FE Element Fender System (1,400- by-1,000 mm, G2.1), each with a steel panel of 6.3 meters in length and an additional seven V Fenders (SX-P 500, G1.5), also known as arch fenders.
The SFT in-house engineering team considered two specific conditions when designing these fender systems, especially for the panels. One, the terminal is exposed to large tidal ranges, a feature we managed to address with 6.3-meter-long steel panels that provide a full contact surface for the vessels during berthing. Secondly, the panels are carefully designed to withstand the large line loads introduced by the beltings of the ferries.
Accurate manufacturing within tolerances is standard procedure for SFT. However, there are projects where keeping up this accuracy is even more important. This is the case for the Skandinavienkai project, where the rubber fender units needed to be evenly distributed over the 6.3-meter-long steel panel, and where the anchors for such a large steel panel had to be positioned within five meters of new concrete. Manufacturing tolerances were closely monitored during the production process. Additionally, to facilitate a smooth installation process that would ensure exact fitting of the anchors and easy assembly, SFT provided steel templates for the cast-in anchors.
As a customer-oriented company we are committed to providing support and assistance throughout the entire project, from the first contact up to the commissioning and beyond. With this project, we completed another partnership that demonstrates our holistic approach to fender design.
Reprinted from Marine Construction Magazine Issue IV, 2023
