DP AWARENESS COURSE NOTES

SECTION: 1 HISTORY OF DP
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Section 1
HISTORY OF DYNAMIC POSITIONING
Definition
Dynamic Positioning (DP) is a computerised system that automatically controls a vessel’s
heading & position (fixed location, relative location or predetermined track), by means of
thruster force.

This definition includes the vessel remaining at a fixed location, precise manoeuvring within a defined
area and tracking along a pre-determined path, as well as other specialist applications such as
tracking relative to another object.

History

DP evolved initially through a need to drill in water depths beyond the capability of conventional mooring
systems in use at the time. Since then other factors such as savings in operating costs and time, advances in
computer technology, propulsion control, Position Measuring Equipment and also the flexibility of a DP vessel
have driven the DP market into nearly all sectors of the marine industry.

In late fifties and early sixties, a converted naval barge CUSS 1 was used as a drilling platform. The CUSS 1
was then used for PROJECT MOHOLE, to drill through the earth’s outer crust (MOHO layer) off California and
Mexico. The project involved core sampling in deep water, beyond the capability of conventional mooring
systems and offshore drilling capabilities at the time. The barge was fitted with four deck mounted engine
driven azimuthing thrusters, fitted on each corner of the barge. The position reference system consisted of a
hydro acoustic transmitter lowered to the seabed, and four buoys moored around the barge, each transmitting
a radar signal to the barge. The CUSS 1 was manually controlled, and was able to maintain station within a
180 metres radius while drilling in depths up to 3560 metres. The system was difficult to manage and so the
idea was developed to use a computer to control the thrusters.

Cuss 1
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The first vessel to fulfil the generally accepted definition of DP was the Eureka, designed and
engineered by Howard Shatto, and operated by Shell. The vessel entered service in 1961 and was
fitted with a basic analogue control system, interfaced with a taut wire reference. The vessel was
equipped with steerable thrusters fore and aft in addition to her main propulsion. The vessel was
small at 450 tonnes displacement and 130 feet in length. The Eureka successfully drilled to a depth of
1300 metres in 6 m seas and winds to 21 m/s.

In 1964 the Caldrill 1, with a similar system to the Eureka commenced operations, and was capable of
drilling to depths of 2000 metres. The vessel was fitted with 4 x 300 hp thrusters, and used two taut
wire reference systems.

France followed suit closely behind the USA and in 1963 two vessels were using DP for Pipelay
operations in the Mediterranean.

GEC started producing DP systems in 1971. They joined forces with Alcatel in 1989 and changed
their name to Cegelec, then Alstom, Converteam and now GE Power Conversion.

Norway entered the market in 1975 and because of delays in servicing Honeywell equipment in
Europe they decided to develop their own systems. Kongsberg were tasked with producing a
commercial system and in 1977 the ADP 501/502/503 systems were introduced.

By the late 1970’s, DP was becoming well established, and by 1980 there were approximately 65 DP
capable vessels. By 1985 this figure had grown to 150. In 2002 the number of vessels had further
expanded to approximately 1,000 vessels and in the latest building surge this figure has expanded
exponentially.

The earliest DP computer systems used analogue architecture, however since the late 1960’s all units
have been digital. By today’s standards, memory capacities were modest and rather limited.
Programming was usually achieved by loading a magnetic tape. Common systems were the
Kongsberg KS500 series and the G.E.C. Gem 80 computers. These systems were physically large,
and were often housed in their own air-conditioned space, which often produced logistical and
monitoring problems if separated from the bridge. The older systems had large amounts of cabling
fed into the base of the cabinets, whereas modern systems communicate via Ethernet (LAN) using
just one or two network cables, which drastically reduces the chances of cabling failures. Earlier
systems relied on simple analogue PID controllers (proportional, integral, derivative), which were not
capable of adapting to the actual environmental conditions, or thruster and vessel errors. Station
keeping has improved significantly with advances in control systems, the use of Kalman filtering
(which can adapt to the environmental conditions), and faster digital data transmission times.

As DP has become an accepted technique within the offshore industry, so the number of different
applications has increased, until today just about every function within the industry can utilise DP in
some way or another. Some of the more common marine activities using DP (and not limited too)
are:

 Coring
 Exploration drilling
 Production drilling
 Dive support
 ROV
 Pipelay and pipeline survey
 Rock dumping
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 Sub sea construction and installation

 Well stimulation and work over
 Shuttle tanker off take
 Floating production
 Platform supply
 Wind farm installation
 Platform Decommissioning

Dynamic Positioning

Advantages:

 Self-propelled and self reliant

 Quick to set up on the worksite
 Able to work in all water depths, with certain limitations
 Can react quickly to environmental changes
 Flexible to changes in the task at hand
 Can change position quickly during an operation

Disadvantages:

 Vulnerable to power, electronic or mechanical failures

 Higher day rates than conventional methods
 Higher fuel consumption
 Risk of drive off
 Problems operating in shallow water, areas with strong currents and adverse weather
 Need continuous position reference
 Requirement for redundancy in hardware
 Requires trained personnel
 Loss of manual boat handling skills as DP is used for station keeping

A DP system provides extra flexibility in a wide range of applications, and is widely favoured for
exploration drilling in ultra deep water and dive support vessels. DP is also rapidly gaining popularity
amongst anchor handling and platform supply vessels. It is cheaper to install DP systems during
vessel construction rather than to retrofit, and DP capable vessels are usually able to work longer in
deteriorating weather conditions, giving them a competitive advantage.