Simultaneous activities on the bridge caused a DP incident

  • DP Event
  • Published on 3 December 2020
  • Generated on 2 October 2026
  • DPE 04/20
  • 1 minute read

Incident

The experienced DPO was new to the vessel and misinterpreted a 30 degree heading increment as being a 30 degree/min rate of turn.

DPE 20.04 – Simultaneous activities on the bridge caused a DP incident – Flowchart

Comments

The DPO, though experienced, was new to the vessel and the DP system. He had undergone familiarisation of the system but misinterpreted 30o heading increment as being a 30o/ min rate of turn. As the 6-hourly checklists were being completed, the vessel was making moves and deploying references. Multiple operations were initiated just prior to watch handover which could have been delayed by a few more minutes.

Considerations

  • Bridge resource management was not properly exercised. In principle, the second DPO should fill out the checklists and the DPO at the desk should concentrate on vessel position keeping only.
  • The familiarisation process should be reviewed to be more robust to ensure new DPOs are completely familiar with the desk and functions.
  • Reference should be made to, The training and experience of key DP Personnel (IMCA M117).
  • It should be noted that a 30o per minute rate of turn was considered to be far too high whilst engaged in diving operations.

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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.

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