Question 1

After a minor DP excursion that resulted in no contact and no damage, the client's representative tells the Master: "Nothing happened — there's no need to report this and it will only cause paperwork for everyone." What should the Master do?

Accepted Answer

Submit the IMCA report regardless — the decision to report a DP incident meeting the threshold is the operator's legal and professional obligation, not the client's; the client has no authority to prevent submission, and IMCA reports are confidential so the client's concern about exposure is misplaced IMCA incident reporting is a professional and contractual obligation of the vessel operator, not a negotiable courtesy to the client. The confidential nature of IMCA reports means the client's concern about reputational exposure is also unfounded. A Master who suppresses a reportable incident at client request is exposing both themselves and the company to a failure of their safety management obligations.

Question 2

What threshold triggers a mandatory report to IMCA under the DP incident reporting scheme?

Accepted Answer

Any unintended, uncontrolled vessel movement (excursion) or loss of position, thruster runaway (drive-off), loss of redundancy that constituted a genuine risk to the operation, or any DP-related event that could have resulted in a collision, grounding, or loss of life — regardless of whether actual contact or damage occurred IMCA's incident reporting scheme is explicitly designed to capture potential consequences, not just actual damage. Near-miss events, drive-offs that cleared the installation, and loss of redundancy without position loss are all reportable because the safety learning they generate is valuable regardless of outcome. IMCA maintains this as a confidential, non-punitive system to maximise industry-wide learning.

Question 3

What is a DPVE (DP Vessel Event) in the context of IMCA incident reporting?

Accepted Answer

A standardised category of DP incident in which the vessel experienced an unintended and uncontrolled excursion from its position setpoint, or a loss of position — the defining characteristic is that the excursion was uncontrolled (not intentional or commanded by the DPO) DPVE is the IMCA reporting category for uncontrolled position excursions. It distinguishes between excursions caused by the DP system failing to maintain position versus intentional movements. All DPVEs meeting the reporting threshold should be submitted to IMCA to contribute to the incident database that the DPTEG draws on for its annual safety bulletins.