Annual DP trials under conference spotlight

Organisations and Associations - October 10, 2011

Annual dynamic positioning (DP) trials for DP vessels will come under the conference spotlight when Ian Giddings, Technical Adviser - Marine, International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) speaks at the 15th Marine Technology Society (MTS) DP conference 11-12 October 2011 in Houston, Texas.

As he explains: “The 50th anniversary of dynamic positioning allows us the opportunity to look back – as well as forward. Conducting annual DP trials on DP vessels has been the accepted method of testing the DP system and verifying its operation for a number of years now – though not throughout those 50 years.

“To aid those carrying out or witnessing these trials and others involved in these trials IMCA, and its predecessor the DP Vessel Owners Association (DPVOA), have prepared guidance for this area. The first guidance was issued in 1993, and has been revised in the intervening period. Then in 1994 the International Maritime Organisation issued the Maritime Safety Committee circular 645 which contained Guidelines for Vessels with Dynamic Positioning Systems.

“Additionally guidance on conducting annual DP trials for DP mobile offshore drilling units was prepared and issued in 2008. This document gave guidance on conducting these trials aboard MODUs where the annual trials, as a one-off event, were not possible and so had to be conducted on a continual basis throughout the year.

“The original annual DP trials document has now been further revised and expanded and will be issued this year. My presentation in Houston will look at these developments and in particular this latest guidance. It will also look at how the annual DP trials fit within the documentation required for the DP vessel and within vessel assurance.”

Ian Giddings will be speaking on DP assurance through annual trials at the IMCA Annual Seminar taking place Wednesday 9-Thursday 10 November 2011 in New Orleans.

Further information on the Annual Seminar, with its theme ‘The Future of Marine and Subsea Operations’, is at www.imca-int.com/events/seminar; and available from events@imca-int.com and from IMCA at 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7824 5520; Fax: +44 (0)20 7824 5521.