© IMCA 2017

Managing Dynamic Positioning (DP) Operations

Captain Andy Goldsmith, IMCA Technical Adviser

IOSH Offshore Conference – Tools for the trade

19 October 2017

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IMCA OPERATIONAL STRUCTURE

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BOARD

CEO

OPERATIONS COMMITTEE

SECRETARIAT

CORE

COMMITTEES

• HSSE(Health, Safety, Security

& Environment)

• Contracts & Insurance

• Competence &

Training

• Lifting & Rigging

• Marine Policy &

Regulatory Affairs

DIVISION

COMMITTEES

• Diving

• Marine

• Offshore Survey

• Remote Systems

& ROV

REGIONAL

COMMITTEES

• Asia-Pacific

• Europe & Africa

• Middle East & India

• North America

• South America

TECHNOLOGY

COMMITTEES

• To be established:

but now IMCA has the

structure in place if it

needs to add these

in future

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• Maximum 12 members

• At least 50% contractor companies

• At least 1 DP consultant company

• At least 1 equipment supplier

• At least 1 DP training establishment

IMCA MARINE DP COMMITTEE

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MEMBERSHIP

• Copy recipients

− Interested individuals

− Receive committee updates

− Currently 18 companies

represented

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• Review & revise existing DP guidance

• Produce new DP guidance if required

IMCA MARINE DP COMMITTEE

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FUNCTION & OBJECTIVES

• Provide industry with DP

related lessons learnt

• Advise on the IMCA DP reporting scheme

• Promote DP station keeping reporting

• Represent IMCA at DP related forums

• Contribute to IMCA DP workshops

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• DP station keeping event annual

summary spreadsheet

• Quarterly DP event Bulletin

introduced

IMCA MARINE DP COMMITTEE

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ACHIEVEMENTS

More than 20 DP related documents reviewed and revised during 2016

Document revision programme established

Successful DP station keeping workshop held in Amsterdam June 2016

• A new interactive DP event

reporting form introduced

• Timely production of the annual

DP event review

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• IMCA and the Marine DP Committee

• Maintaining position

• Elements of the DP system

• Regulatory requirements

• Operational activity planning

• Defining the operational mode

• Activity Specific Operational Guidance (ASOG)

• Available guidance

AGENDA

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• Manual thruster control

• Joystick control

• Automatic DP

• 4 Point Moor

• DP Mooring assist

• Self-elevating vessels

MANAGING DP OPERATIONS

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MAINTAINING POSITION

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Consists of three sub-systems

• Power system

• Thruster/propulsion system

• DP control system

− Heading sensor

− Wind sensor

− Motion sensor

− Position reference

systems

• Some say four!

− The DP Operator

− Key DP Personnel

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ELEMENTS OF A DP SYSTEM

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IMO MSC Circular 1580 Guidelines for Vessels and Units with Dynamic

Positioning (DP) Systems

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REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

• Section 4 Operations

− Use decision support tools

− DP System functioning

correctly

− Location checklists

− Set up for the appropriate

mode of operation

− Activity Specific Operational

Guidelines

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Guidance on Operational Activity Planning (IMCA M220)

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IMCA GUIDANCE

Operational activity planning addresses the

following:

1. defines the appropriate

configuration for the location and

vessel activity

2. defines limits for equipment and

operational parameters for the

location and activity

3. defines actions to be taken by key

vessel personnel

4. presents operational guidance in

an easy to understand decision

support tool

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Requires a thorough knowledge of:

• the DP system

• the DP FMEA

• the industrial mission

• vessel location

• risk assessments

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OPERATIONAL ACTIVITY PLANNING

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Critical Activity Mode (CAM)

• Vessel meets maximum level of redundancy

• No single failure will exceed the identified worst case failure

− Defines the most robust configuration

− Identifies equipment required

− Methods of operation

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DEFINING THE OPERATIONAL MODE

Should be used for all critical activities

Generally, a vessel only has one CAM

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Task Appropriate Mode (TAM)

• Risk based dependant on vessel operation

• A single failure could result in worst case failure

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DEFINING THE OPERATIONAL MODE

Operation is not so critical and redundancy is not essential

A vessel may have several task appropriate modes

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MANAGING DP OPERATIONS

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WHEN MIGHT YOU WORK IN TAM?

Where the time to terminate operations is short rather than long:

• DP MODU on standby or not connected to the seabed

• DP PSV delivering targets to a platform prior to operations beginning

Working in open water:

• DP construction vessel on the leeside and more than 500 m from a surface or

mission critical subsea asset

• A diesel electric subsea support vessel may operate with closed main

switchboard bus tie breakers, as opposed to open bus tie breakers when

performing open water subsea activities and the consequences of loss of

position and or heading are acceptable.

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• Green

− Normal operations

• Blue

− Advisory status

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ACTIVITY SPECIFIC OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE

• Yellow

− Degraded status

• Red

− Emergency status

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MANAGING DP OPERATIONS

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ACTIVITY SPECIFIC OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE

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VIDEOINFIELD PERSONNEL TRANSFER

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Valuable in field guidance

• Guidance on operational activity planning (IMCA M220)

• A guide to DP-related documentation for DP vessels (IMCA M109)

• Guidance on the transfer of personnel to and from offshore vessels and

structures (IMCA M202)

• Guidance on simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) (IMCA M203)

• Guidance on operational communications (IMCA M205)

Core IMCA DP guidance documents

• Guidelines for the design and operation of dynamically positioned vessels

(IMCA M103)

• The training and experience of key DP personnel (IMCA M117)

• Guidance on failure mode and effects analysis (IMCA M166)

• Guidance for developing and conducting DP annual trials programmes

(IMCA M190)

MANAGING DP OPERATIONS

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AVAILABLE GUIDANCE

© IMCA 2017

www.imca-int.com

Improving performance in the

marine contracting industry

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