Tethered Float Breakwater

This paper presents the Tethered Float Breakwater (TFB) which was developed as part of the Navy´s Container Offloading and Transfer System (COTS). COTS provides fleet logistic support for sustained operations that include at-sea cargo transfer in unprotected areas having sea-states up through 4. With the TFB, a portable wave attenuation system, the sea-state can be dampened by 40 to 50 percent (sea-state 4 reduced to 3). The Naval Ocean Systems Center (NOSC), supported by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, demonstrated the TFB concept by developing the Bay Model (used in San Diego Bay) and an open Ocean Model. The TFB is comprised of a large number of low-density floats, each separately tethered to a subsurface ballast system. The floats, like inverted pendula, move in opposition to the wave field, and the drag produced removes energy from the sea and reduces wave height. The TFB has many military, industrial, and environmental applications.