Kongsberg Maritime and Becker Marine Systems have launched KBIMS, a tool designed to make more efficient use of propellers and rudders during dynamic positioning operations.
Offshore staff
LILLESTRØM, Norway – Kongsberg Maritime and Becker Marine Systems have launched KBIMS, a tool designed to make more efficient use of propellers and rudders during dynamic positioning operations.
The first installation is to be on a Volstad offshore construction vessel currently in construction.
Once integrated with the K-Pos DP system, KBIMS takes advantage of the main propeller and rudder to enhance DP performance, says Kongsberg. Then, the system generates the correct rudder angle and propeller pitch/rpm for better station keeping.
“The challenge (to improve DP performance) was to find a more direct indicator of maneuvering performance than the vessel’s motion reaction detected by GPS or gyros,” says Nils Albert Jannssen, VP Business Development, Kongsberg Marine. “It clearly turned out that the closest value to describe performance was the rudder force itself, so this is what KBIMS measures.”
