Answer: GL Noble Denton offers DP auditing and engineering consultancy associated with new designs and upgrades. We also perform float-overs with dynamic positioning.
The auditing involves annual audits, suitability inspections and FMEAs – Failure Mode and Effects Analysis audits. We also provide specialist consultancy related to feasibility, design and upgrades/refurbishment. It is a growing market. The vessels are larger, more capable and more complicated than ever. Nowadays almost every new offshore vessel has DP capability.
Question: To which vessels does DP apply?
Answer: Today, basically every offshore service vessel uses DP. This is especially relevant for windfarm installation vessels. But it’s not just ships. There are also DP semi-submersibles and drillships. Why the latter? If an operator wants to drill in 5,000 feet of water, he can’t possibly use a conventional mooring arrangement using anchor chains, because the water is too deep. So he uses a DP unit which automatically and very precisely holds its position to allow drilling operations to be undertaken. It is not connected to the seabed and just keeps its position for weeks at a time.
Question: What is the actual the challenge with DP?
Answer: There are many, but one is certainly whether a vessel is “fit for purpose”. Let me give you an example: A shipowner wins a long-term contract and goes to a shipyard and orders an expensive DP vessel. The shipyard will build it, complying with the general standards of class and other statutory bodies, but often this may not involve a specialist DP audit company at the outset to check the design.
The shipowner is reliant on the capability of the shipyard and his own experience. The shipowner’s client will be the oil company who will have specific tasks in mind for the vessel and will generally demand an independent audit from a trusted service provider such as GL Noble Denton to make sure that the ship will be fit for purpose.
Prior to the contract, or perhaps on delivery, the vessel will be given a full third-party audit, normally an FMEA, to make sure the vessel is compliant with the specifications of the contract. There is definitely a cost benefit of involving a specialist DP consulting company at the outset to ensure that the vessel they build is going to meet the demanding standards of the international market.
