DP1 holding for Sea Axe FCS fleet
Navis dynamic positioning (DP1) systems are going to be put aboard the innovative ‘Sea Axe Fast Crew Suppliers craft, currently under construction at Damen Shipyards in Gorinchem.
The nine vessels are part of a series of 14 Sea Axe Fast Crew Suppliers (FCS) craft to incorporate the DP1 technology. Damen’s flexible multi-purpose design has been developed to optimise particular characteristics of the craft’s performance so that the vessels can be deployed in a broad range of tasks, mostly as offshore support vessels.
The DP aspect is an interesting addition to FCS’ usual high speed operability, as the vessels have only recently been designated for station-keeping deployment. Toward this, all the DP systems will have Bureau Veritas DYNAPOS AM/AT classification.
This order, part of an overall bridge package delivered by Alphatron Marine, follows Navis Engineering’s contract from STX Finland Oy to supply the same technology to Aura II, currently under construction in Turku, Finland and due for delivery in 2012.
Aura II is a multi-purpose dry cargo ship and Baltic Sea oil recovery vessel, the first commercial vessel to run entirely on liquid bio-fuels.
The NavDP4000 is the latest of Navis’ DP systems, combining elements of the previous version, Navis IVCS, with latest technology. The system is based on touch screen operation, allowing fast access to all system functions and, happily, fewer buttons on the main control panel.
It features an intelligent and flexible power management system, providing high speed dynamic positioning reaction to switching-on external power consumers. This protects the user from power blackout failure and reduces power consumption.
One of the other key features of Navis’ DP systems is the Thrust Ability Diagram, which in real-time mode shows all possible combinations of control forces in the surge and sway axes for a given value of the rotational control moment and thruster availability, incorporated with allowed power load.
The user interface for the NavDP 4000 has been developed in cooperation with experienced DP operators and ergonomic experts. Priorities have been given to clear and unambiguous presentation of information, timely access to functions, and simplicity.
Navis is keen to point out that despite it being based on the Windows operating system, the design of the interface stops there, with the system showing familiar device controls instead. The combination of the marine touch screen and dedicated DP control panel provides an intuitive and, hopefully, self explanatory user interface. Voice alarms and a messaging function help to maintain a high level of awareness in any situation.
