Question 1

A client requires sight of the vessel's current, class-approved FMEA before approving mobilisation for a DP2 deepwater operation. The vessel's FMEA is three years old and predates a generator upgrade. The DPO is asked to forward it without mentioning this gap. What should the DPO do?

Accepted Answer

Decline to forward the FMEA without disclosing the modification that makes it potentially out of date; the DPO should inform the Master and request that the classification society's position on the FMEA's current validity be established before mobilisation Forwarding an FMEA known to potentially not reflect the current vessel configuration to a client without disclosure would be misleading — the client is relying on it for their own risk assessment. The professional and safety obligation is to establish the document's actual validity status before mobilisation, not to forward an outdated document without comment.

Question 2

What is the purpose of a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) for a DP vessel, and who mandates it?

Accepted Answer

The FMEA is a class-required document that systematically analyses each identifiable failure within the DP system and proves, by showing which failures are tolerable without loss of position, that the vessel has the redundancy claimed for its class notation Classification societies (DNV, Lloyd's, Bureau Veritas, etc.) require an approved FMEA as part of the DP class notation process. It is the engineering document that demonstrates the redundancy architecture actually delivers what the class notation claims — for DP2, for example, proving that any single failure leaves sufficient redundant systems to maintain position.

Question 3

Who is responsible for commissioning a DP FMEA, and who approves it?

Accepted Answer

The shipowner/operator commissions the FMEA, prepared by a specialist firm; it is reviewed and approved by the classification society as part of DP class certification An FMEA is a specialist engineering document, typically prepared by the DP system manufacturer, a marine engineering consultancy, or the vessel's designers. It must be reviewed and stamped by the classification society before it forms part of the vessel's class certification. It is not a document the DPO or vessel crew can prepare themselves.