DP assurance & marine warranty
Dynamic positioning assurance and marine warranty
Fastnet supports owners, operators and project teams with the operating documentation and the independent review that DP vessels and complex marine operations require. We examine how the vessel’s arrangements, redundancy concept and mission requirements translate into operating controls that hold in practice.
The work covers existing operations, vessel upgrades, and preparation for a new contract or activity. Where expressly contracted, Fastnet also undertakes marine warranty survey and approval of marine operations.
When we can help
A DP assignment may begin with a new operating manual, a change of mission profile, a propulsion or power upgrade, a DP incident, or an independent review required before mobilisation.
A marine warranty assignment begins when an operation needs approval before it proceeds.
DP assurance: what the assignment can include
- Vessel-specific DP operating manuals and marine execution procedures
- Activity Specific Operating Guidelines, Critical Activity Mode and Task Appropriate Mode
- DP capability and redundancy assessment, and the worst case failure design intent
- Independent review of the DP FMEA, its supporting evidence and the trials documentation, including what the trials did not prove
- Consequence analysis, and whether it reflects the vessel as she is now rather than as designed
- Client or owner representation at FMEA proving trials and annual DP trials
- Position reference strategy and sensor arrangement
- Review of DP interfaces during conversion, propulsion upgrade or change of mission equipment
- Close proximity and 500 metre zone operations, and station keeping during life-critical work
- Support following DP incidents and undesired events
Marine warranty
Marine warranty survey and approval of marine operations, undertaken where expressly contracted, within demonstrated competence and within the limits of the professional indemnity cover in force.
- Review of the proposed method, procedures and contingency arrangements
- Vessel and equipment suitability for the operation
- Weather and operational criteria, and the limits at which the operation stops
- Attendance at the operation
- Issue of the certificate of approval
How we deliver the work
We review the vessel documentation, the system configuration and the mission requirement. The review considers the redundancy concept, the identified failure effects, the operating modes and the restrictions that follow from them.
Findings are traced to the evidence, so you can see what is established, what is assumed, and what still needs to be proved.
Operating documents are developed with the vessel team and the relevant specialists, aligned to the approved vessel arrangements and the project requirements, then taken through review, familiarisation and close-out.
What you receive
- A review report stating what was examined, what was not, and what the evidence supports
- Findings graded by consequence, each with the action it requires
- DP operating manual, operating guidelines and execution procedures, as scoped
- Interface documents and an action register
- Operating limits and the basis on which they were set
- Where marine warranty applies, the certificate of approval and its conditions
What is not included
Fastnet is not a classification society, a flag Administration or a recognised organisation, and does not issue statutory certificates. Marine warranty services do not constitute classification, flag State or statutory certification, and no document issued by Fastnet is to be represented as such. Fastnet does not assume operational command and does not direct the vessel. Acceptance of a vessel or an operation remains the client’s decision.
Common questions
Can you support a DP2 or DP3 upgrade project?
Yes. We support the operational requirements, the documentation and the independent review within the wider engineering programme, working with the appointed designers, system suppliers, class and the other parties through the agreed project arrangements.
Do you undertake independent FMEA review?
Yes. The review can address the technical logic, consistency with the vessel as configured, the supporting evidence, the trials coverage and the operational consequences. Producing the FMEA, and executing the trials, are scoped separately where required.
What is the difference between DP assurance and marine warranty?
DP assurance examines whether the vessel and her documentation support the intended operation. Marine warranty is the approval of a specific marine operation, usually for an insurer or a project, and ends in a certificate of approval. They are often needed together and are priced separately.
Can you develop guidelines for one particular activity?
Yes. Operating guidelines are developed around the vessel, the location, the mission and the client interfaces, using the engineering and operational evidence that exists.
Discuss the vessel and the mission
Tell us what she is and what she has to do.
Tell us the vessel and her DP class, the equipment fitted, the intended activity and location, the current DP FMEA and trials with their dates, the client assurance regime that applies, and the dates you are working to. For an upgrade, include the proposed changes and the stage the design has reached.