Annual dynamic positioning trials during COVID-19
Guidance for vessel owners
DNV’s Noble Denton marine services team is on hand to help vessel owners prepare for, and conduct, interim DP trials.
Published: 8 May 2020
Emergency and interim measures are being put in place by flag states and recognized organizations to allow commercial marine activities to continue safely while restrictions on travel, port and vessel access and surveys persist.
Classification societies and industry bodies, such as IMCA and OCIMF, are generally granting or recommending extensions and allowances to defer annual dynamic positioning (DP) trials. However, vessel owners are still expected to take reasonable steps to ensure the integrity of their DP systems while national and international movement restrictions are in place.
Regulatory and industry bodies indicate that:
- A full, annual trials programme will not be required during this period of emergency measures.
- An annual survey (as defined by MSC. 1/ Circ. 645 & 1580) DP trials programme will be required as soon as is reasonably practicable after travel restrictions are lifted
- An interim DP trials programme (with a reduced number of tests) may be needed in the cases of DP system failure, loss of performance or at charterer’s request
- Third-party witnessing (in-person or remotely) will not be required in these interim trials. However, vessel owners should consider engaging a competent DP assurance provider to assist with preparing for an interim trials programme, including collating substantiating documents
The interim trials program will be based on the vessel’s DP system FMEA and typically include a focused set of tests as follows:
- Generator full load test
- Thruster full thrust, rotation and ramp test
- UPS and battery charger endurance test
- Emergency stop function test
- Main DP controller changeover and alarms
- Group redundancy tests (port, centre, starboard, as relevant)
- DP performance (box & circle) - These tests may be combined with redundancy tests
- IJS function test
DNV’s Noble Denton marine services team is on hand to help vessel owners prepare for, and conduct, interim DP trials. We provide industry-standard test sheets, in addition to expert-written guidance on every step you must take to configure your systems, prepare for and conduct tests, document results and take remedial action.
DNV’s global network of DP experts are also available 24/7 through voice and video calling, live chat and email to give technical support on executing interim DP trials and evaluating the results.
For more information, please contact:
| Region/ Country | Contacts | |
| Americas | Craig Reid | Contact |
| UKWA | Neil Jamieson Fraser | Contact |
| Europe | Bartlomiej Zygmunt Kolosowski | Contact |
| MEI | Sam Quirk | Contact |
| Singapore | Ankor Raithatha | Contact |
| Australia | Samuel Chadwick | Contact |
| China | Patrick Tao Xie | Contact |
5/8/2020 3:18:11 PM