Dynamic Positioning for Inland Vessels
RH Marine recently installed the Rhodium 4500 dynamic positioning (DP) and tracking system on Hakkers’ new flagship, Noordzee, an inland multipurpose vessel that can be used for lifting, dredging or pile driving.
Hakkers is a specialist in the development, production and realization of excavation, dredging, construction, foundation, coastal and shoreline works. Its new vessel Noordzee required a system that could automatically hold position and maintain track with high accuracy on low speed.
DP for inland multipurpose vessels is complex since these ships have to take a variety of movements, loading conditions and currents into account, RH Marine noted, adding that DP is therefore 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 DP systems were mainly used on offshore vessels, the systems nowadays are gaining popularity in a variety of other 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 of another dredging and marine firm several months ago. For this multipurpose vessel an additional plough module was integrated, optimizing the plough operations on the seabed.
Both projects were a combination of the DP system of RH Marine Netherlands and the Navigational sensors delivered by the sister company Radio Holland Netherlands.
