Maintenance and Management of Marine Rubber Fenders

Marine rubber fenders are installed as protective equipment to ensure safe and smooth berthing of ships, reducing or avoiding damage to ships and marine structures in waters and mooring facilities. To use these facilities as high-quality infrastructure for their day-to-day purposes, they must be properly maintained, mainly for their ancillary facilities.

Due to frequent exposure to harsh conditions, rubber fenders should be planned, properly maintained, and managed to maintain their designed lifespan. To protect assets, including personnel, the optimum performance of marine fenders should be enhanced by avoiding the occurrence of damage and unintended degradation, and aging rates.

Maintenance and management should include systems to effectively detect deterioration of rubber fender damage, facilitate technical assessment and provide appropriate countermeasures. Basically, it must contain a comprehensive matrix of the scope, timing, frequency, and methods of inspections, diagnostics, and corresponding corrective actions.
Assuming that impact is the main deteriorating factor for rubber fenders, it is important to understand the behavior of each kind and classify them according to how they absorb energy from berthing vessels.

V type arch rubber fenders. The fender body itself is a resistance mechanism, which absorbs the berthing energy of the ship through the buckling deformation of the body. Therefore, it is straightforward to focus on the signs of deterioration of the rubber body due to external forces.
   1. A close inspection should also be made after any incident which may have damaged the fenders or supporting structure. Always record the event, cause, and consequences immediately.
   2. Interim maintenance will include but is not limited to, the repair of any cuts and surface damage to the rubber. Paint spills should be removed by water jetting.
   3. Close attention should be paid to edges where ropes may abrade, also around chain brackets.
   4. Interim maintenance will include the replacement of worn UHMW-PE pads, in particular, all pads with remaining wear allowance insufficient to last until the next scheduled maintenance.
   5. Any missing lock nuts, locking tabs, or split pins should be replaced at the same time. The correct preload should be applied to fixings.
   6. Components must be changed if the diameter is likely to reduce below the permitted minimum before the next scheduled maintenance.