Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2025)

Kongsberg Maritime’s

OFFSHORE ENERGY

Tow Assist, a DP system which enables unpowered ? oating structures to become DP-enabled.

Image courtesy Kongsberg

DYNAMIC

EFFICIENCY

There’s no one-size-? ts-all in dynamic positioning systems, but each is crafted with ef? ciency in mind.

By Wendy Laursen f the dynamic positioning (DP) system went down on an The company’s design philosophy begins by examining the offshore supply vessel, it could result in a collision. On a hydrodynamic and aerodynamic forces acting on a vessel and dive support vessel, it could result in injury or death for a determining how best to counteract these forces with thrust- diver. On a drilling rig, it could result in a blowout with ers. This includes assessing the placement and integration of

I loss of life, pollution and ? re. steerable and tunnel thrusters within the hull to optimize pro-

Built-in redundancy is key to avoiding failures, and this in pulsion ef? ciency. Electrical systems, gensets and DP control turn determines the thruster, electrical and engine con? gura- systems are then chosen to support the required redundancy tions that are designed to enable DP systems. and performance needs.

“There is no single, universal solution,” says Lauri Tiainen, DP is gaining prominence in vessels involved in offshore

Director Thrusters and Propulsion Control Systems, Wärtsilä wind projects, and Wärtsilä has introduced new technologies,

Marine. “Each vessel has unique operational requirements such as the WST-E thruster family, launched in 2024, designed and design considerations. Vessels working in shallow waters, speci? cally for specialized shallow-water applications. Wärt- especially those supporting walk-to-work operations, require silä has been a long-standing advocate for 8°-tilted thruster different system solutions compared to traditional oil and gas designs, which reduce thruster-hull interactions, lower energy vessels operating in deeper waters.” consumption and improve positional accuracy.

32 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • April 2025

MR #4 (18-33).indd 32 4/2/2025 9:08:02 AM