Dynamic positioning

1 Factory
Dynamic positioning started in the 1960s for oshore
drilling. With drilling moving into ever deeper waters,
Jack-up barges could not be used any more and anchor-
ing became less economical.
In 1961 the drillship Cuss 1 was tted with four steerable
propellers, in an attempt to drill the rst Moho well. It
was possible to keep the ship in position above the well
o La Jolla, California, at a depth of 948 meters.
After this, o the coast of Guadalupe, Mexico, ve holes
were drilled, the deepest at 183 m (601 ft) below the sea
oor in 3,500 m (11,700 ft) of water, while maintaining
Oshore support vessel Toisa Perseus with, in the background, a position within a radius of 180 meters. The ships posi-
the fth-generation deepwater drillship Discoverer Enterprise, tion was determined by radar ranging to buoys and sonar
over the Thunder Horse Oil Field. Both are equipped with DP ranging from subsea beacons.
systems.
Whereas the Cuss 1 was kept in position manually, later
in the same year Shell launched the drilling ship Eureka
Dynamic positioning (DP) is a computer-controlled that had an analogue control system interfaced with a taut
system to automatically maintain a vessel's position and wire, making it the rst true DP ship.[2]
heading by using its own propellers and thrusters. Po-
sition reference sensors, combined with wind sensors, While the rst DP ships had analogue controllers and
motion sensors and gyrocompasses, provide information lacked redundancy, since then vast improvements have
to the computer pertaining to the vessels position and been made. Besides that, DP nowadays is not only used
the magnitude and direction of environmental forces af- in the oil industry, but also on various other types of ships.
fecting its position. Examples of vessel types that em- In addition, DP is not limited to maintaining a xed posi-
ploy DP include, but are not limited to, ships and semi- tion any more. One of the possibilities is sailing an exact
submersible mobile oshore drilling units (MODU), track, useful for cablelay, pipelay, survey and other tasks.
oceanographic research vessels and cruise ships.
The computer program contains a mathematical model
of the vessel that includes information pertaining to the 2 Comparison between position-
wind and current drag of the vessel and the location of the
thrusters. This knowledge, combined with the sensor in- keeping options
formation, allows the computer to calculate the required
steering angle and thruster output for each thruster. This Other methods of position-keeping are the use of an an-
allows operations at sea where mooring or anchoring is chor spread and the use of a jack-up barge. All have their
not feasible due to deep water, congestion on the sea bot- own advantages and disadvantages.
tom (pipelines, templates) or other problems. Although all methods have their own advantages, dy-
Dynamic positioning may either be absolute in that the namic positioning has made many operations possible
position is locked to a xed point over the bottom, or rel- that were not feasible before.
ative to a moving object like another ship or an underwa-The costs are falling due to newer and cheaper technolo-
ter vehicle. One may also position the ship at a favorable
gies, and the advantages are becoming more compelling
angle towards wind, waves and current, called weather- as oshore work enters ever deeper water and the envi-
vaning. ronment (coral) is given more respect. With container
Dynamic positioning is used by much of the oshore oil operations, crowded ports can be made more ecient by
industry, for example in the North Sea, Persian Gulf, quicker and more accurate berthing techniques. Cruise
Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, and o the coast of Brazil. ship operations benet from faster berthing and non-
There are currently more than 1800 DP ships.[1] anchored moorings o beaches or inaccessible ports.

1
2 6 REFERENCE SYSTEMS

3 Applications 4 Scope
A ship can be considered to have six degrees of freedom
in its motion, i.e., it can move in any of six axes.
Three of these involve translation:

surge (forward/astern)

sway (starboard/port)

heave (up/down)

and the other three rotation:

roll (rotation about surge axis)

pitch (rotation about sway axis)

yaw (rotation about heave axis)

Dynamic positioning is concerned primarily with control

of the ship in the horizontal plane, i.e., the three axes:
surge, sway and yaw.

SBX underway 5 Requirements

Important applications include:
A ship that is to be used for DP requires:
Servicing Aids to Navigation (ATON)
to maintain position and heading, rst of all the po-
Cable-laying sition and heading need to be known.
Crane vessels a control computer to calculate the required control
Cruise ships actions to maintain position and correct for position
errors.
Diving support vessels
thrust elements to apply forces to the ship as de-
Dredging manded by the control system.
Drillships
For most applications, the position reference systems and
FPSOs
thrust elements must be carefully considered when de-
Flotels signing a DP ship. In particular, for good control of po-
sition in adverse weather, the thrust capability of the ship
Landing platform docks in three axes must be adequate.
Maritime research
Mine sweepers
6 Reference systems
Pipe-laying ship
Platform supply vessels 6.1 Position reference systems
Rockdumping There are several means to determine a ships position
Sea Launch at sea. Most traditional methods used for ships naviga-
tion are not accurate enough for some modern require-
Sea-based X-band radar ments. For that reason, several positioning systems have
been developed during the past decades. Producers of
Shuttle tankers
DP systems are: Kongsberg Maritime, Navis Engineer-
Survey ships ing Oy, GE, DCNS, L3, MT-div.Chouest, Rolls-Royce
6.1 Position reference systems 3

plc, Praxis Automation Technology, . The applications tally. Three types of HPR systems are commonly
and availability depends on the type of work and water used:
depth. The most common Position reference/Measuring
systems /Equipment (PRS/PME) are: Ultra- or super- short base line, USBL or
SSBL. This works as described above. Be-
cause the angle to the transponder is measured,
a correction needs to be made for the ships
roll and pitch. These are determined by Mo-
tion Reference Units. Because of the nature of
angle measurement, the accuracy deteriorates
with increasing water depth.

Long base line, LBL. This consists of an ar-

ray of at least three transponders. The initial
position of the transponders is determined by
USBL and/ or by measuring the baselines be-
tween the transponders. Once that is done,
only the ranges to the transponders need to be
measured to determine a relative position. The
position should theoretically be located at the
GPS satellite in orbit. intersection of imaginary spheres, one around
each transponder, with a radius equal to the
time between transmission and reception mul-
DGPS, Dierential GPS. The position obtained tiplied by the speed of sound through water.
by GPS is not accurate enough for use by DP. The Because angle measurement is not necessary,
position is improved by use of a xed ground-based the accuracy in large water depths is better
reference station (dierential station) that compares than USBL.
the GPS position to the known position of the sta-
tion. The correction is sent to the DGPS receiver by
long wave radio frequency. For use in DP an even Short baseline, SBL. This works with an ar-
higher accuracy and reliability is needed. Compa- ray of transducers in the ships hull. These de-
nies such as Veripos, Fugro or C&C Technologies termine their position to a transponder, so a
supply dierential signals via satellite, enabling the solution is found in the same way as with LBL.
combination of several dierential stations. The ad- As the array is located on the ship, it needs to
vantage of DGPS is that it is almost always available. be corrected for roll and pitch.[5]
Disadvantages include degradation of the signal by
ionospheric or atmospheric disturbances, blockage Riser Angle Monitoring. On drillships, riser an-
of satellites by cranes or structures and deterio- gle monitoring can be fed into the DP system. It
ration of the signal at high altitudes.[3] There are may be an electrical inclinometer or based on USBL,
also systems installed on vessels that use various where a riser angle monitoring transponder is tted
Augmentation systems, as well as combining GPS to the riser and a remote inclinometer unit is in-
position with GLONASS.[4] stalled on the Blow Out Preventer (BOP) and inter-
rogated through the ships HPR.
Acoustics. This system consists of one or more
transponders placed on the seabed and a transducer
placed in the ships hull. The transducer sends Light taut wire, LTW or LWTW. The oldest po-
an acoustic signal (by means of piezoelectric ele- sition reference system used for DP is still very ac-
ments) to the transponder, which is triggered to re- curate in relatively shallow water. A clumpweight is
ply. As the velocity of sound through water is known lowered to the seabed. By measuring the amount of
(preferably a soundprole is taken regularly), the wire paid out and the angle of the wire by a gimbal
distance is known. Because there are many elements head, the relative position can be calculated. Care
on the transducer, the direction of the signal from should be taken not to let the wire angle become
the transponder can be determined. Now the posi- too large to avoid dragging. For deeper water the
tion of the ship relative to the transponder can be cal- system is less favourable, as current will curve the
culated. Disadvantages are the vulnerability to noise wire. There are however systems that counteract this
by thrusters or other acoustic systems. The use is with a gimbal head on the clumpweight. Horizontal
limited in shallow waters because of ray bending that LTWs are also used when operating close to a struc-
occurs when sound travels through water horizon- ture. Objects falling on the wire are a risk here.
4 7 CONTROL SYSTEMS

gnss (Global Navigation Satellite System) and Hy-

droacoustics (USBL, LBL, or SBL).

6.2 Heading reference systems

Gyrocompasses are normally used to determine
heading.

More advanced methods are:

Ring-Laser gyroscopes

Fibre optic gyroscopes

Seapath, a combination of GPS and inertial sensors.

6.3 Sensors
Besides position and heading, other variables are fed into
the DP system through sensors:

Motion reference units, vertical reference units

or vertical reference sensors, VRUs or MRUs or
Light taut wire on the HOS Achiever
VRSs, determine the ships roll, pitch and heave.

Fanbeam and CyScan. These are laser based po- Wind sensors are fed into the DP system
sition reference systems. They are very straight- feedforward, so the system can anticipate wind gusts
forward system, as only a small prism needs to before the ship is blown o position.
be installed on a nearby structure or ship. Risks Draught sensors, since a change of draught inu-
are the system locking on other reecting objects ences the eect of wind and current on the hull.
and blocking of the signal. Range depends on the
weather, but is typically more than 500 meters.[6] Other sensors depend on the kind of ship. A pipelay
ship may measure the force needed to pull on the
Artemis. A radar-based system. A unit is placed on pipe, large crane vessels will have sensors to deter-
a nearby structure and aimed at the unit on board the mine the cranes position, as this changes the wind
ship. The range is several kilometres. Advantage is model, enabling the calculation of a more accurate
the reliable, all-weather performance. Disadvantage model (see Control systems).
is that the unit is rather heavy.[7]

DARPS, Dierential, Absolute and Relative Po- 7 Control systems

sitioning System. Commonly used on shuttle
tankers while loading from a FPSO. Both will have
In the beginning PID controllers were used and today
a GPS receiver. As the errors are the same for the
are still used in the simpler DP systems. But modern
both of them, the signal does not need to be cor-
controllers use a mathematical model of the ship that
rected. The position from the FPSO is transmitted
is based on a hydrodynamic and aerodynamic descrip-
to the shuttle tanker, so a range and bearing can be
tion concerning some of the ships characteristics such
calculated and fed into the DP system.
as mass and drag. Of course, this model is not entirely
correct. The ships position and heading are fed into the
RADius[8] and RadaScan. These are radar based system and compared with the prediction made by the
system, but have no moving parts as Artemis. An- model. This dierence is used to update the model by us-
other advantage is that the transponders are much ing Kalman ltering technique. For this reason, the model
smaller than the Artemis unit. The range is typically also has input from the wind sensors and feedback from
500 1000 meters. the thrusters. This method even allows not having input
from any PRS for some time, depending on the quality
Inertial navigation is used in combination with any of the model and the weather. This process is known as
of the above reference systems, but typically with dead reckoning.
 5

fault of an active component or system such as gen-

Thrusters
erators, thruster, switchboards, remote controlled
valves etc., but may occur after failure of a static
component such as cables, pipes, manual valves etc.

Equipment Class 3 which also has to withstand re

or ood in any one compartment without the system
failing.
Loss of position should not occur from any single
failure including a completely burnt re sub division
or ooded watertight compartment.

Classication Societies have their own Class notations:

DNV rules 2011 Pt6 Ch7 introduced DPS series of
classication to compete with ABS DPS series.

Block diagram of control system 10 NMA

The accuracy and precision of the dierent PRSs is not Where IMO leaves the decision of which class applies to
the same. While a DGPS has a high accuracy and preci- what kind of operation to the operator of the DP ship and
sion, a USBL can have a much lower precision. For this its client, the Norwegian Maritime Authority(NMA) has
reason, the PRSs are weighted. Based on variance a PRS specied what Class should be used in regard to the risk
receives a weight between 0 and 1. of an operation. In the NMA Guidelines and Notes No.
28, enclosure A four classes are dened:

8 Power and propulsion systems Class 0 Operations where loss of position keeping
capability is not considered to endanger human lives,
or cause damage.
To maintain position azimuth thrusters (electric, L-drive
or Z-drive) bow thrusters, stern thrusters, water jets, Class 1 Operations where loss of position keeping
rudders and propellers are used. DP ships are usually at capability may cause damage or pollution of small
least partially diesel-electric, as this allows a more exi- consequence.
ble set-up and is better able to handle the large changes
in power demand, typical for DP operations. Class 2 Operations where loss of position keeping
capability may cause personnel injury, pollution, or
The set-up depends on the DP class of the ship. A Class damage with large economic consequences.
1 can be relatively simple, whereas the system of a Class
3 ship is quite complex. Class 3 Operations where loss of position keeping
capability may cause fatal accidents, or severe pollu-
On Class 2 and 3 ships, all computers and reference sys-
tion or damage with major economic consequences.
tems should be powered through a UPS.

Based on this the type of ship is specied for each oper-

ation:
9 Class requirements
Class 1 DP units with equipment class 1 should be
Based on IMO (International Maritime Organization) used during operations where loss of position is not
publication 645[9] the Classication Societies have issued considered to endanger human lives, cause signi-
rules for Dynamic Positioned Ships described as Class 1, cant damage or cause more than minimal pollution.
Class 2 and Class 3.
Class 2 DP units with equipment class 2 should be
Equipment Class 1 has no redundancy. used during operations where loss of position could
Loss of position may occur in the event of a single cause personnel injury, pollution or damage with
fault. great economic consequences.
Class 3 DP units with equipment class 3 should be
Equipment Class 2 has redundancy so that no single used during operations where loss of position could
fault in an active system will cause the system to fail. cause fatal accidents, severe pollution or damage
Loss of position should not occur from a single with major economic consequences.
6 13 IMCA

11 Redundancy 12 DP operator
Redundancy is the ability to withstand, while on DP The DP operator (DPO) judges whether there is enough
mode, the loss of equipment which is online, without redundancy available at any given moment of the oper-
losing position and/or heading. A single failure can be, ation. IMO issued MSC/Circ.738 (Guidelines for dy-
amongst others: namic positioning system (DP) operator training) on 24-
06-1996. This refers to IMCA (International Marine
Thruster failure Contractors Association) M 117[11] as acceptable stan-
dard.
Generator failure
To qualify as a DP operator the following path should be
Powerbus failure (when generators are combined on followed:
one powerbus)
1. a DP Induction course + On-line Examination
Control computer failure
2. a minimum of 60 days seagoing DP familiarisation
Position reference system failure
3. a DP Advanced course + On-line Examination
Reference system failure
4. a minimum of 60 days watchkeeping on a DP ship
For certain operations redundancy is not required. For 5. a statement of suitability by the master of a DP ship
instance, if a survey ship loses its DP capability, there is
normally no risk of damage or injuries. These operations When the watchkeeping is done on a Class 1 DP ship, a
will normally be done in Class 1. limited certicate will be issued; otherwise a full certi-
For other operations, such as diving and heavy lifting, cate will be issued.
there is a risk of damage or injuries. Depending on the The DP training and certication scheme is operated by
risk, the operation is done in Class 2 or 3. This means The Nautical Institute (NI). The NI issue logbooks to
at least three Position reference systems should be se- trainees, they accredit training centres and control the is-
lected. This allows the principle of voting logic, so the suance of certication.
failing PRS can be found. For this reason, there are also
three DP control computers, three gyrocompasses, three With ever more DP ships and with increasing manpower
MRUs and three wind sensors on Class 3 ships. If a sin- demands, the position of DPO is gaining increasing
gle fault occurs that jeopardizes the redundancy, i.e., fail- prominence. This shifting landscape led to the creation
ing of a thruster, generator or a PRS, and this cannot be of The International Dynamic Positioning Operators As-
resolved immediately, the operation should be abandoned sociation (IDPOA) in 2009. www.dpoperators.org
as quickly as possible. IDPOA membership is made up of certied DPOs who
To have sucient redundancy, enough generators and qualify for fellowship (fDPO), while Members (mDPO)
thrusters should be on-line so the failure of one does not are those with DP experience or who may already be
result in a loss of position. This is left to the judgment of working within the DP certication scheme.
the DP operator. For Class 2 and Class 3 a Consequence
Analysis should be incorporated in the system to assist
the DPO in this process. 13 IMCA
Disadvantage is that a generator can never operate at full
load, resulting in less economy and fouling of the engines. The International Marine Contractors Association was
To avoid the engines to work under low loads, theres an formed in April 1995 from the amalgamation of AODC
allocation mode to the thrusters called biasing, in which (originally the International Association of Oshore Div-
the thrusters are set in pairs counteracting each other, ing Contractors), founded in 1972, and DPVOA (the Dy-
with a precise control of such counteraction, in order to namic Positioning Vessel Owners Association), founded
adjust the generators/engines working load. When an en- in 1990.[12] It represents oshore, marine and underwater
gine works under a low load for some time it accumulates engineering contractors. Acergy, Allseas, Heerema Ma-
carbon deposits on the upper part of the cylinder, which rine Contractors, Helix Energy Solutions Group, J. Ray
can damage the pistons and all other moving equipment McDermott, Saipem, Subsea 7 and Technip have repre-
related to the piston movement. sentation on IMCAs Council and provide the president.
Previous presidents are:
The redundancy of a DP ship should be judged by a
failure mode and eects analysis (FMEA) study and 1995-6 - Derek Leach, Coexip Stena Oshore
proved by FMEA trials.[10] Besides that, annual trials are
done and normally DP function tests are completed prior 1997-8 - Hein Mulder, Heerema Marine Contrac-
to each project. tors
 7

1999/2000 - Donald Carmichael, Coexip Stena 16 External links

Oshore
2001-2 - John Smith, Halliburton Subsea/Subsea 7 List of all oshore vessels

2003-4 - Steve Preston, - Heerema Marine Contrac- IMO, International Maritime Organization
tors
Introduction to Dynamic Positioning by the Interna-
2005 - Frits Janmaat, Allseas Group tional Marine Contractors Association (IMCA)

(2005 Vice-President - Knut Boe, Technip) NMD, Norwegian Maritime Directorate

OPL Oileld Seamanship Series - Volume 9: Dy-
While it started with the collection and analysis of DP
namic Positioning - 2nd Edition by David Bray
Incidents,[13] since then it has produced publications on
dierent subjects to improve standards for DP systems. NI, The Nautical Institute
It also works with IMO and other regulatory bodies.
The Dynamic Positioning Committee of The Ma-
rine Technology Society
14 See also The International Dynamic Positioning Operators
Association (IDPOA)
Autonomous spaceport drone ship
Mercury Skyhook, Mercury Marine Skyhook
Digital Anchor for outboard motor boats uses GPS
and electronic compass to lock position and heading
for dynamic positioning against wind and tide.

15 References
[1] http://www.nautinst.org/en/dynamic-positioning/
what-is-dynamic-positioning/index.cfm
[2] Introduction to Dynamic Positioning, IMCA
[3] IMCA M 141, Guidelines on the Use of DGPS as a Po-
sition Reference in DP Control Systems.
[4] Veripos DP system can be installed with several Aug-
mentation systems as well as GLONASS support, they
can disable any satellite or service via Ultra corrections
received via Spotbeam or Inmarsat links..
[5] IMCA M 151, The Basic Principles and Use of Hydroa-
coustic Position Reference Systems in the Oshore Envi-
ronment.
[6] IMCA M 170, A Review of Marine Laser Positioning
Systems.
[7] IMCA M 174, A Review of the Artemis Mk V Position-
ing System.
[8] RADius relative positioning system.
[9] IMO MSC/Circ.645, Guidelines for vessels with dy-
namic positioning systems (PDF).
[10] IMCA M 166, Guidelines on Failure Modes & Eects
Analyses (FMEAs)".
[11] IMCA M 117, The training and experience of key DP
personnel.
[12] IMCA DP History (PDF).
[13] IMCA M 181, Analysis of Station Keeping Incident Data
1994-2003.
8 17 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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