The present invention relates to a vessel having a mooring system for automatic mooring to one or more bollards in accordance with the preamble of claim 1 and a method for use thereof.

Background and prior art:

In the last decade there have been a growing focus in the maritime industry to provide vessels with a high degree of autonomy. An example of an autonomous ship is found disclosed in WO 2017/129863 Al .

However, in order to achieve full autonomy within the maritime industry, the vessel’s infrastructure such as mooring to quay structures must also be able to allow partial or full autonomous operations.

Mooring with a high degree of autonomy is known in the art. As an example, WO 2017/167877 Al discloses a system for automatic mooring of a vessel. The vessel comprises two spaced apart winches with mooring lines and a rigid spreader bar connected between the two mooring lines. A robotic arm transfers the spreader bar from a position on the vessel to a position behind bollards on the quay.

However, such a known mooring solution requires that a large portion of the deck surface area of the vessel has been liberated in order to avoid interference with the mooring procedure, thereby reducing the maximum deck available for infrastructure, equipment or storage. Moreover, the risk of unintentional loss of mooring to the bollards is considered high, in particular during harsh sea conditions.

JPS6194888 shows another example of an automatic mooring system comprising telescopic arms containing a mooring line with a loop at its end. The arm may be placed at the side of the vessel’s hull. This solution solves the problem with deck space mentioned above. However, the maximum allowed distance from vessel to the quay structure, as well as the maximum allowed relative vertical movements, are restricted to be within a reasonable size of the telescopic arms.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a vessel comprising an automatic mooring system that at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.

More particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible and automatic mooring system that optimize the utilization of the total deck surface area

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible and automatic mooring system with a high degree of predictability. Summary of the invention:

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the main claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention.

In a first aspect, the invention concerns a vessel comprising a hull for floating in a body of water and at least one rope-parking bollard, and preferably a plurality of rope-parking bollards, wherein each bollard comprises a bollard column having a proximal longitudinal end and a distal longitudinal end. The rope-parking bollard further comprises a bollard head arranged at the distal longitudinal end of the bollard column, wherein the cross-sectional area of the bollard head oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the bollard column is larger than the corresponding cross sectional area of the bollard column. The term‘corresponding cross-sectional area of the bollard column’ signifies herein a cross-sectional area oriented parallel to the cross- sectional area of the bollard head. The rope-parking bollard is fixed to the vessel’s hull at the proximal longitudinal end of the bollard column.

At least one rope-parking bollard may have a bollard head protruding from a hull side, preferably the hull external side. Further, the longitudinal direction of the bollard column may be perpendicular to the hull side.

One or more bends may be present on the bollard column along the longitudinal direction between the proximal end and the distal end.

In one exemplary configuration the proximal longitudinal end of the bollard column fixed into a hull recess formed within the side of the hull. The hull recess may have a depth into the side of the hull which is at least 20 % of the length of the bollard column along its longitudinal direction, more preferably a depth of at least 30 %, even more preferably at least 50 %, even more preferably at least 70 %, for example 100 % of the length of the bollard column along its longitudinal direction.

At least one the rope-parking bollard may further comprise a bollard transmission / communication system comprising a receiver, transmitter and/or a transceiver, thereby allowing wireless communication with a remote-control system. For example, if the rope parking bollard comprises a transmitter, the bollard may transmit a signal to the remote control system when an attachment system of a vessel’s mooring system has established a stable and releasable attachment with the rope-parking bollard and/or has been successfully released from the bollard.

The vessel may further comprise a mooring line with a mooring line end and an attachment system fixed to the mooring line end, wherein the attachment system is configured to allow releasable attachment to the rope-parking bollard.

The attachment system may further comprise a mooring loop, wherein the minimum size of the opening of the mooring loop is sufficient to allow the bollard head to enter there through, and a mooring line connector connecting the mooring loop to the mooring line end.

The mooring line may be winched by at least one winch constituting part of the vessel. A second mooring line end of the mooring line is in this configuration at least indirectly attached to the winch. The vessel may further comprise at least one robotic arm, and preferably a plurality of robotic arms. Such a robot arm comprises a robotic arm section, or in case of several arm section an outer robotic arm section, with a gripper assembly at a first longitudinal end. The gripper assembly may be configured to releasably grip the mooring line connector to allow transfer of the attachment system from one location to another.

Such a gripper assembly is preferably rotatable / pivotable relative to the robotic arm section.

As an exemplary configuration of a versatile and rotatable / pivotable gripper assembly, it may comprise

a first, inner rotary device rotatably fixed to the first longitudinal end of the robotic arm section,

a second, mid rotary device rotatably fixed to the inner rotary device with an axis of rotation different, preferably perpendicular, to the axis of rotation of the inner rotary device and

an outer gripper connector rotatably fixed to the mid rotary device with an axis of rotation different, preferably perpendicular, to the axis of rotation of the mid rotary device.

At least one, and preferably all, of the rope-parking bollards are placed within a maximum extent of the robotic arm, i.e. the extent corresponding to the configuration where all arm sections of the robotic arm are pivoted relative to each other such that they are aligned along a common longitudinal axis. In a more preferred embodiment, the majority of the rope-parking bollards are within 80 % of the maximum extent.

In another exemplary configuration the vessel comprises an object sensor system for sensing the position and size of objects within a predetermined distance range, for example objects on quay and/or on deck.

The object sensor system may for example be placed on the robotic arm and/or on the rope-parking bollard and/or on other locations on the external side of the hull.

In a second aspect, the invention concerns a method, preferably performed using a vessel as described above, comprising the following steps:

A. Manoeuvring one or more robot arm sections of the robotic arm by operating at least one swivel located between the deck base and the outermost robotic arm section to a position where the gripper assembly is arranged adjacent to the attachment system, wherein the mooring loop of the attachment system is surrounding the rope-parking bollard. In case of several robot arm sections, each robotic arm section is interlinked end to end with another robot arm section via a dedicated swivel, thereby allowing independent pivoting.

B. Operating the winch to slacken the tension of the mooring line.

C. Releasably attaching the gripper assembly to the mooring line connector.

D. Guiding the mooring loop by operating at least one rotary device of the gripper assembly or at least one swivel or a combination thereof such that the mooring loop is released from the rope-parking bollard.

E. Guiding the attachment system by operating at least one rotary device of the gripper assembly or at least one swivel or a combination thereof such that the attachment system is guided to the external location, for example the location of a quay bollard detected by the object sensing system.

Note that step B and step C may be interchanged or performed simultaneously. Further, step G and step H may be interchanged or performed simultaneously.

If the external location of step E is the location of a bollard on a quay structure having been previously detected by the object sensing system, the method may further comprise the following steps:

F. Guiding the attachment system by operating at least one rotary device of the gripper assembly or at least one swivel or a combination thereof such that the mooring loop surrounds at least part of the bollard on the quay structure.

G. Disattaching the gripper assembly from the attachment system.

H. Operating the winch to tighten the mooring line between the winch and the bollard.

At least one, preferably all, of the steps can be done remotely by the remote control system.

Further, at least one, preferably all, of the steps may be activated and controlled based on positional data collected by the object sensing system.

The method may also be reversed to manoeuvre the attachment system from an external location, for example a quay bollard to a rope-parking bollard.

In yet another exemplary configuration of the method, at least one of the object sensor system, the attachment system, the winch, the rope-parking bollard and the robotic arm comprise transmitting means allowing wireless communication with a remote data processing apparatus configured to perform the steps A-E, preferably all of the steps A-H

In a third aspect, the invention concerns a data processing apparatus comprising a computer program that, when executed on a processor, is configured to perform the method steps A-E, preferably all steps A-H.

In an alternative or additional configuration, the manoeuvring of the robotic arm may be achieved by use of one or more telescopic robotic arm sections. For example, one or more of the robotic arm sections, for example the outermost robotic arm section, may be telescopic in order to achieve additional manoeuvrability.

Brief description of the drawings:

Figs. 1 (A) and (B) illustrate a vessel viewed from the side and from the top, respectively, having a plurality of robotic arms forming part of a vessel in accordance with the invention.

Figs. 2 (A) and (B) illustrate an aft portion and a bow portion, respectively, of the vessel in Figs. 1, both portions comprising a mooring winch system for winching mooring lines.

Figs. 3 (A), (B) and (C) illustrates examples of prior art mooring winches that may be used on the vessel.

Figs. 4 (A) and (B) illustrate a bow portion and an aft portion, respectively, of a vessel in accordance with the invention with a robotic arm arranged in a folded position on a deck of a vessel.

Figs. 5 (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) illustrate in different perspective views a method in accordance with the invention for attaching a rope eye of the mooring line around a bollard by use of the robotic arm of Figs. 4.

Fig. 6 illustrates a rope-parking bollard on the external surface of a vessel hull located near a mooring line’s fairlead, where a rope eye of the mooring line is arranged in a parked position around the bollard.

Fig. 7 illustrates another rope-parking bollard positioned on the external surface of a vessel hull further away from the fairlead of the mooring line.

Fig. 8 illustrates a vessel with an upper deck and a lower deck, where a rope parking bollard is located on the external surface of a vessel hull at the upper deck.

Figs. 9 (A), (B), (C) and (D) illustrate in different perspective views two alternative methods of placing a rope eye of the mooring line around a rope-parking bollard placed externally on a vessel hull by use of the robotic arm of Figs. 4 and 5, where Figs. 9 (A) and (B) and Figs. 9 (C) and (D) shows placement of the rope eye when approaching the rope-parking bollard from opposite angles.

Figs. 10 (A), (B) and (C) illustrate in different perspective views a method in accordance with the invention for attaching a rope eye of the mooring line around a bollard on a quay structure by use of a robotic arm.

Fig. 11 illustrates the detection areas of an object sensing system attached to a robotic arm, where both the sensor system and the robotic arm constitute parts of the vessel in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 12 illustrates in perspective an attachment system constituting part of a vessel in accordance with the invention, wherein the attachment system comprising an elastic rope eye and a sheave attached behind the splice of the rope eye.

Fig. 13 illustrates the external surface of a vessel hull constituting part of a vessel in accordance with the invention, with a rope-parking bollard placed within a hull recess.

Detailed description of the invention

In the following, specific embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. However, the invention is not limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein. It is specifically intended that the invention includes modified forms of the embodiments, including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments. It should be appreciated that in the development of any actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, specific decisions must be made to achieve the developer’s specific goals, such as compliance with system and/or business -related constraints. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication and manufacture for the skilled person having the benefit of this disclosure.

Figs. 1-9 show an embodiment of a vessel 100 (figs. 1 and 2) with a mooring system having one or more winches 11 with a winch drum 11a and a winch motor l ib (figs. 2 and 3), mooring lines 10 with a rope eye 22 associated with each winch (figs. 6- 9), a plurality of robotic arms 200 fixed to a deck 102 (figs. 4-7) and/or a hull 101 of the vessel 100 and one or more rope-parking bollards 220 associated with one or more of the mooring lines 10 (figs. 6-9).

The hull 101 of the vessel 100 has a bow part 104 and an aft part 105 (fig. 2). The deck structure 103, defined as any physical obstacles arranged onto the vessel’s 100 deck 102 that is not directly involved in the mooring operation to a remote structure or the parking of the mooring line’s rope eye around a rope-parking bollard, may include both fixed structures such as the deck infrastructure and removable products such as non-mooring related equipment and/or containers.

A gripper connector 213c at an end 213 of each robotic arm 200 is configured to grab the mooring line 10 near the rope eye 22 at an end 10a of the mooring line 10 without the need of human intervention, and to subsequently transfer the rope eye 22 between the location of the rope-parking bollard 220 and any location within a distance from the rope-parking bollard 220 depending on the maximum extent of the robot arm 200, for example within 30 meters, 25 meters, 20 meters 15 meters, 10 meters or 5 meter

The mooring line 10 may advantageously be guided during transfer between the rope-parking bollards 220 and the external location, for example via fairleads 106 arranged within the hull 101 or separate mooring line guides 12 arranged on the deck 102 or a combination thereof. An example of a mooring line guide 12 may be drums adapted for changing the direction of the mooring line 10 somewhere between the winch 11 and the fairlead 106 (or any other exit structures at the deck’s 102 lateral boundaries).

The location of each rope-parking bollard 220 may in general be anywhere on the hull 101 and/or the deck 102 and or the deck structure 103. The most preferable location is however at the external side of the hull 101 and adjacent to a fairlead 106, for example within 5 meters from the fairlead.

The rope-parking bollards may further be evenly distributed along the lateral plane of at least some sections of the hull 101. For example, a plurality of rope-parking bollards may be evenly distributed along the bow portion 104 and/or along the aft portion 105.

As best illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, each rope-parking bollard 220 comprises a bollard head 221 and a bollard column 222. The latter has a bollard column proximal end 222a and a bollard column distal end 222b, where the bollard head 221 is located at the bollard column distal end 222b and the bollard column proximal end 222a is fixed to the hull 101 or the deck 102.

The protrusion of the rope-parking bollard 220 from the hull 101 or deck 102 may be in any angle relative to the hull/deck surface.

Furthermore, the bollard column 222 can be straight or have one or more bends / kinks located between the proximal longitudinal end 222a and the distal end 222b.

For example, the bollard column 222 may initially extend perpendicular to, or at a given first angle between 0° and 90° from, the hull/deck surface 101 and then change direction (bend/kink) along the bollard column’s 222 longitudinal angle, i.e. another angle. In a specific exemplary configuration, the bollard column 222 can extend perpendicular from the hull/deck surface (first angle = 90°) a distance corresponding to half the length of the bollard column 22 and then bend 90°, thus extending to the bollard head 221 in a direction parallel along the hull/deck surface.

In the most preferred configuration, the bollard column 222 is oriented perpendicular to the hull/deck surface without any bends/kinks.

In an alternative configuration, one or more of the rope -parking bollards 220 may be a placed in a recess 230 in the hull 101 or deck 102, where the proximal longitudinal end 222a of the bollard column 222 is fixed within the recess 230, thereby avoiding, or at least mitigating, any disadvantage related to protruding structures from the hull/deck. The opening of the recess 230 is sufficiently large to allow the rope eye 22 to pass around the bollard head 221 during parking of the mooring line 10.

The recess depth into the side of the hull 101 or the deck 102 may be at least 20 % of the length of the bollard column 222 along its longitudinal direction, more preferably at least 30 % of the length, even more preferably at least 50 %, for example between 90 % and 100 %, that is equal or near equal to column’s total length. The depth of the recess 230 may also have a depth that equals the length of the bollard column 222 and the bollard head 221 along the longitudinal direction of the bollard column 222, thereby reducing significantly undesired interference with external structures such as quay structures 1.

In particular for self-driving / at least partly autonomous vehicles, one or more of the rope-parking bollards 220 may include a signal communication system 223 comprising a receiver and/or a transmitter. For example, the signal communication system may include a transceiver, thereby allowing wireless transmission as well as wireless receival.

If the rope-parking bollard 220 comprises a signal communication system 223 with a transmitter, the rope-parking bollard 220 may be configured to send a signal to a remotely located control system when the rope eye 22 has established a stable attachment with the rope-parking bollard 220 and/or has been successfully released from the rope-parking bollard 220. If the rope-parking bollard 220 also includes a receiver, the control system may send signals to the rope-parking bollard 220 that may further be communicated to the robotic arm 200 and/or the winch 11 and/or an attachment system 20 including the rope eye 22 at the mooring line 10a during fastening/releasing procedures.

As best illustrated by fig. 6-8, the rope-parking bollard 220 may be located a distance from a fairlead 106 used to guide the mooring line through the hull 101. The rope-parking bollard 220 and the fairlead 106 may further be located at the same or near the same height relative to the hull’s 101 waterline as illustrated in fig. 7 or immediately above the fairlead as illustrated in fig. 6.

If the vessel 100 comprises a plurality of vertically arranged decks 102 as illustrated in fig. 7, the rope-parking bollard 220 and the fairlead 106 may be located on the same side of the hull 101, but at different deck levels.

As best illustrated in figs. 6-10 and 12, the mooring line 10 further includes an attachment system 20, comprising a mooring loop 22, also denoted a rope eye, attached to the end 10a of the mooring line 10 via a sheave 21 or a mooring line connector 21. The gripper connector 213c and the sheave 21 are mutually designed to ensure a stable, releasable coupling. One example of such a coupling may be arranging an electromagnet on the gripper connector 213c and a permanent magnet on the mooring line connector 21. However, other fixing means such as hooks may also be envisaged.

A skilled person will understand that the particular configuration of the sheave 21 and the gripper connector 213c for aiding the coupling and the guiding process may vary while still achieving the purpose of stable and easy alignable coupling.

To facilitate automatic surrounding or entanglement of the mooring loop 22 around the rope-parking bollard 220, the bollard head 221 is configured such that the bollard head 221 can enter through the mooring loop 22. The mooring loop 22 is made elastic, meaning that its initial shape is regained after having been exposed for a load typical for mooring of vessels. For example, the mooring loop 22 should regain the initial shape after being exposed for a load of more than 30 kN for at least 1 hour, preferably for a load of more than 50 kN within the same time period.

Figs. 4 and 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of a robotic arm 200 being fixed on the deck 102 at the right corner of the vessel’s aft portion 105. As is apparent from fig. 4A, the deck structure 103 includes a high number of obstacles, thereby reducing the possible manoeuvrability space of the robotic arm 200 significantly.

To ensure a high positional degree of freedom, the robotic arm 200 may be equipped with a plurality of robotic arm sections 204,206, 211, where at least some of the sections are movable relative to each other.

In one particular embodiment shown in the figures the robotic arm 200 comprises a total of three robotic arm sections 204,206, 211 which are interlinked in the following manner:

- a deck base 201 in the form of a cylinder is fixed to the vessel’s deck 102,

- a robotic arm base 202 in the form of a fork is rotatably fixed to the deck base 102 via a deck swivel 203 such that the rotational axis of the robotic arm base 202 is perpendicular to the deck floor at and in the vicinity of the deck base 201, - an end of the inner robotic arm section 204 is pivotably fixed to the robotic arm base 202 via a robotic arm base swivel 205 such that the rotation axis of the section 204 is parallel to the deck floor at and in the vicinity of the deck base 201,

- an end of the second robotic arm section 206 is rotatably fixed to the other end of the inner robotic arm section 204 via a third swivel 207 such that both the longitudinal direction and the rotational axis of the section 206 are aligned with the longitudinal direction of the inner section 204,

- an end of the outer robotic arm section 211 is rotatably fixed to the other end of the second section 206 via a fourth swivel 210 such that the longitudinal direction of the outer section 211 is aligned, but oppositely directed, to the second section 206, and the rotational axis of the outer section 211 is parallel to the rotational axis of the second section 206.

Note that the above-mentioned configuration of the robotic arm 200 is only one of many exemplary configurations that allows high degree of movements despite of relatively complex deck structure 103. A skilled person understands that modifications such as changing the number of robotic arm sections, the direction of axis of rotations, the relative direction of the sections and the section lengths are possible without departing from the stated purpose of the invention.

As best shown in fig. 4B and 9, the other end of the outer section 211 may constitute a gripper assembly 213 comprising

- an inner rotary device 213a having an axis of rotation aligned along the longitudinal direction of the outer section 211,

- a mid-rotary device 213b having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the inner rotary device 213a and

- a gripper connector 213c comprising an outer rotary device having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the axes of rotation of both the inner and the mid rotary devices 213a, 213b.

As mentioned above, the gripper assembly 213 is generally configured to enable releasable gripping of the sheave 21 arranged between the mooring loop 22 and the end 10a of the mooring line 10. Furthermore, the gripper assembly 213 is, in cooperation with the robotic arm sections, generally configured to manoeuvre the mooring loop 22 around a rope-parking bollard 220 or a mooring structure such as a bollard 2 on a quay 1. Hence, the configuration of the gripper assembly 213 may be modified with respect to inter alia the number of rotary devices, the axes of rotations and the component sizes, without departing from the stated purpose.

Moreover, all or some of the rotating means on the robotic arm 200 such as the swivels 203,205,207,210 and/or rotary devices 213a, 213b, 213c may be configured to allow controllable rotation speed, for example by use of electromotors and/or meshing gears. The vessel also comprises an object sensing system 30 configured to detect the surrounding structures. In the embodiment shown in fig. 10a and 10b, a sensor camera 30a constituting a part of the object sensing system 30 is arranged on the mid rotary device 213b, thereby enabling detection of an area in the vicinity of the gripper assembly 213. Hence, structures such as rope-parking bollards 220 or bollards 2 may be detected and analysed with respect to position and size.

The object sensing system 30 is configured to detect objects within a maximum allowable distance, for example 100 m, 80 m, 70 m, 50 m, 30 m, 10 m or 5 m.

In general, the object sensing system 30 may comprise a plurality of sensor components distributed on the vessel 100 to ensure detection and analyses of the surrounding environment and thereby allowing a successful mooring with little or no need of human intervention. For example, such sensor components may be arranged on each or some of the robotic arm sections, as well as on the gripper assembly 213 or on the rope-parking bollard 220. Sensor components on other parts of the vessel 100 such as on winches 11, fairleads 106, mooring line guides 12, deck structure 103, etc, may be envisaged to further aid the positioning of the robotic arm 200 and/or the mooring line 10 and/or the mooring loop 22.

Fig. 11 shows a sensing area 31 set up by at least part of the object sensing system 30, within which any structure such as rope-parking bollards 220 may be detected and analysed with respect to position and size.

With reference to fig. 4 B and figs. 5-10, the different steps to ensure a successful transfer of the attachment system 20 from or to a rope -parking bollard 220, may proceed as follows:

- The swivels 203,205,207,210, of the robotic arm 200 is operated to approach the rope-parking bollard 22 and the attachment system 20 comprising the sheave 21 and the rope eye 22 surrounding the rope-parking bollard 220.

- The gripper assembly 213 at the end of the outer section 211 is arranged adjacent to the sheave 21 between the mooring loop 22 and the mooring line end 10a.

- The object sensing system 30 is used to detect e.g. deck structures 103 not pre registered in the robotic arm’s database and/or to verify correct entry in such database, thereby allowing the robotic arm 200 to make necessary movements to avoid undesired impacts. The object sensing system 30 may also be used to locate the exact location of operational structures such as the sheave 21.

- If needed, one or more of the rotary devices 213a, 213b, 213c are operated to perform further adjustment of the position relative to the sheave 21 to ensure that the gripper connector 213c is close enough, and in a favourable orientation, to allow releasable coupling with the sheave 21.

- The releasable coupling is established, for example by activating an electromagnet or operating a claw. - The swivels 203,205,207,210, of the robotic arm 200 is operated to transport the mooring loop 22, the sheave 21 and the mooring line end 10a to a position adjacent a bollard 2 on the quay 1 (see fig. 5 C and D). As for step 1, the object sensing system 30 may be used to detect the position and the size of the bollard 2 to enable mooring, and/or to detect the positions and sizes other type of obstacles in order for the robotic arm 200 to make necessary adjustments to avoid undesired impacts.

- One or more of the rotary devices 213a, 213b, 213c and/or one or more swivels 203,205,207,210, are operated to guide the rope eye 22 around the bollard 2 (see fig. 5 C-F, fig 9 A-D and fig. 10 A-C). For example, the mutual operation of the swivels 203,205,207,210, and the rotary devices 213a, 213b, 213c may first align the rope eye 22 until the opening is facing the side of the bollard 2 (see fig. 5 D and fig. 9 A), then guide mooring loop 22 around the bollard 2 by translational and/or rotational movement towards the bollard 2. In an alternative procedure, the mooring loop 22 may be positioned directly above the bollard 2 with its opening facing down towards the top of the bollard 2 (see fig. 10 A-C), followed by a substantially translation movement of the mooring loop 22 downwards.

- The coupling between the gripper connector 213c and the sheave 21 is released, for example by sending a signal to the electromagnet or by opening the claw.

- The swivels 203,205,207,210, is operated to move the robotic arm 200 back to its parked position on the deck 102 or at the hull 101, that is with the mooring loop 22 arranged around the rope-parking bollard 220 (see fig. 4).

The arrangement of the mooring loop 22 around the rope-parking bollard 220 may proceed as for the arrangement around the bollard 2 as described above.

It is understood by the person skilled in the art, that the rope -parking bollard 220 is configured to facilitate attachment of the attachment system 20, when the attachment system 20 is not being used for other purposes, for example mooring the vessel 100 to a bollard 2 on a quay 1. The rope-parking 220 bollard thus provides a predetermined location for the attachment system 20, where the attachment system 20 can be retrieved or placed, for example by the robotic arm 200. The robotic arm 200 may be guided to the rope-parking bollard 220 automatically by a remote- control unit.

It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which, for clarity, have been described above in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which, for brevity, have been described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub -combination. List of reference numerals / letters: