Dynamic positioning for coastal and inland vessels

Netherlands-based systems integrator RH Marine has commissioned a Rhodium 4500 Dynamic Positioning and Tracking System on the ‘Nordzee’, the new flagship of Hakkers, a specialist in the development, production and realization of excavation, dredging, construction, foundation, coastal and shoreline works.

This inland multipurpose vessel can be used for lifting, dredging or pile driving. The vessel required a system that could automatically hold position and maintain track with high accuracy at low speed, which is helpful to optimize their operations.

Dynamic positioning for inland multipurpose vessels is complex since these ships have to take a variety of movements, loading conditions and currents into account. Therefore dynamic positioning is quite new and unexplored in this market. RH Marine integrated the Rhodium DPT4500 system on board to help Hakkers maximize the operational capabilities together with sister company Radio Holland who supplied and installed the navigational sensors.

Thanks to the flexibility of the Rhodium DPT4500 system, the challenging thruster configuration and inland specific circumstances were mastered. After a short commissioning exercise and familiarization, the crew was impressed with the performance. The captain of the ship stated: “We are very satisfied with this new system. The features of the new system help us to work faster and more efficiently.”

Where previously dynamic positioning systems were mainly used on offshore vessels, these systems nowadays are rapidly gaining popularity in a variety of vessel types and operations. The offered functionalities, controlling all ship movements with high accuracy in a simple way, can help in many types of operations. This asks for a flexible system and readiness to integrate project specific features.

RH Marine also equipped a multipurpose vessel for another dredging and marine specialist operator a few months ago. For this multipurpose vessel an additional plough module was integrated, optimizing the plough operations on the seabed.