ABSTRACT: The marine berths are normally secured for safety reasons with a system of fenders. Their role is to absorb and dissipate the kinetic energy of a ship coming into a contact with a berth, so the structural integrity of both the berth and ship's hull is preserved. Normally the combination of a number and the single fender strength indicate the ship's maximum allowable lateral speed in parallel berthing conditions (of course, with a safety margin frequently taken into account). More or less directly and/or approximately, this is also a general selection method for fender systems. The main objective of this conference contribution, as inspired by some suggestions and needs within a domestic marine society since the author's developed and successfully implemented fender effect in ship manoeuvring simulation, is to analyse the local loads in a particular fender around the region of contact during an oblique berthing. Various conditions of ship's lateral and angular velocities are tested. The results are compared with some practical shiphandling tips, as to be found in the literature, leading to a necessity of revision of the existing practice. The presented investigations are believed to be very helpful also for fender system designers.

KEYWORDS: Ship Berthing, Load Distribution, Unparallel Berthing, Simulation Experiment, Fender Impact Effect, Fender Local Loads, Manoeuvring, Port Operations

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