Station-Keeping Trials in Ice: Dynamic Positioning in Ice — Results and Learnings

Dynamic Positioning Systems are used in numerous types of marine operations. Due to the important differences in the external loads acting on the vessel, standard DP systems may fail to perform in ice conditions. Moreover, specific principles and position keeping philosophies should be applied in ice covered waters. The objective of the paper is to elaborate on these aspects by presenting and analyzing full scale DP tests. These tests were a part of the station-keeping trials performed in March 2017 in drifting ice in the Bay of Bothnia. Control algorithms limitations of Standard DP Systems are presented, showing the necessity of new control principles. The importance of crew training is also demonstrated along with the approaches to keep position in ice.