A linear elastic cable is the simplest numerical model of an actual mooring line. It is defined by the stiffness, initial unstretched length and two attachment points of the mooring line on the linked structures. This line is assumed to have no mass and is therefore represented geometrically by a straight line.

Denoting as the mooring line stiffness and as its initial unstretched length, and as the attachment points on the two structures (in the fixed reference axes, where one structure may be a fixed location, for instance an anchor point), the tension on the mooring line is defined as

(9–1)

where the stretched length of the mooring line is .

It is understood from Equation 9–1 that this type of mooring line bears tension but not compression.