DP controller problems
- DP Event
- Published on 29 May 2018
- Generated on 19 December 2025
- DPE 02/18
- 1 minute read
Undesired event
Good practice is to acknowledge and investigate the cause of alarms, even if they are intermittent, otherwise issues can be missed.
Comments
- Redundancy was lost; therefore, a yellow alert should be initiated.
- Good practice is to acknowledge and investigate the cause of alarms, even if they are intermittent, otherwise alarms can be missed.
- It should be noted that good practice is to restart the DP controllers as part of field entry trials and practice restart procedure during DP operational drills.
- The wisdom of having four DGNSS selected to the DP should be questioned. They are likely to be susceptible to similar faults and therefore provide a false sense of security. Also, the use of four position reference systems of the same type would create a bias and therefore dilute the effectiveness of the other selected systems.
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The case studies and observations above have been compiled from information received by IMCA. All vessel, client, and operational data has been removed from the narrative to ensure anonymity. Case studies are not intended as guidance on the safe conduct of operations, but rather to assist vessel managers, DP operators, and technical crew.
IMCA makes every effort to ensure both the accuracy and reliability of the information, but it is not liable for any guidance and/or recommendation and/or statement herein contained.
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