Q2. You are known as being something of a specialist in the increasingly important sector of dynamic positioning. What key skills have you had to develop to help you in this area?


Dynamic Positioning, like safety, is a culture and if this isn’t present on a DP vessel the standard will not be high. Part of my job is to foster this culture, to encourage the crew to take ownership of the DP system, understand how it all, both man and machine, inter- relates and to take pride in being part of an efficient and safely operated DP vessel.


Q3. Why is dynamic positioning such an important topic and how is it likely to grow in the future would you say?


We have all heard about the slump in the offshore market, the fall of oil prices and the surplus of DP vessels. Many boats are laid up and a significant number, mainly older ones, may never work again in the offshore oil industry. The new market is leaner and meaner and many feel it will never regain the Halcyon Days. I am not an economist, I merely work at the coal face of the industry. Vessels (and crews) need to work to stay in top condition and I think it’s the companies who have kept their vessels working, even accepting punishingly low day rates in order to do so, who will have fit and ready crews and vessels when the upturn comes.


Q4. Which of the many surveys you have carried out over the years has given you most satisfaction and why?


I don’t really have a favourite. I am just thrilled when I find a problem, particularly a safety related one. Because of me doing my job the crew, vessel and environment are a little safer. This is true for DP surveys and eCMID inspections too.


Q5. Which aspect of surveying or inspecting vessels do you find the most challenging?


Offshore vessels are complex and unique. There is no such thing as a sister vessel, merely distant cousins. Probably the most valuable skill I have is to attend a vessel and very quickly assimilate the information of how the various components of the DP system - the engines, thrusters cooling, power management, gyro, control computers and much more are interconnected. I need to understand how the failure of one component affects the rest of the system and the position keeping ability of the vessel. Trials are then devised, conducted safely and the results understood. When things are not quite right the severity of the problem has to be categorised and a finding recorded in the report.


Its


keeping the overall picture, birds eye view, that is the real trick to getting it right.


A question I have often been asked is “how do you cope with


conflict of interest?” The person commissioning the survey may have a different agenda depending on where they are in the food chain – ship builder, owner or charterer. I always reply I am on the side of the vessel. My job is to make the vessel as safe as it can be – which, if you think about it – should be what all the stakeholders want.


Q6. What funny incidents can you recall whilst out on survey?


When a vessel loses position, either through a drift off or a drive off, this is a serious finding, but I am always quite pleased because it is better to have happened in a controlled environment and not next to a platform. This can then be investigated and its cause cured. It is normally quite dramatic when this happens but can often be quite amusing.


I recall on one vessel we broke the command signal to the main propeller and instead of failing to no thrust the propeller went full astern. We immediately hit the main engine emergency stop but the vessel had already picked up speed. I expected an irate Chief Engineer’s call, but nothing. A while later he appeared on the bridge dripping hydraulic oil and holding up two pieces of broken pipe. In heart rending tones he wailed “Ursula, you broke my thruster!”. The retractable bow thruster had been lowered at the time and they don’t like speed.


The Report • June 2018 • Issue 84 | 77


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