The Nautical Institute (the NI) has introduced a DP Refresher and Competency assessment course as a result of NI Training centers running the NI DP revalidation course reporting the benefit of using the NI DP Revalidation course as a DP refresher course and competency assessment. Course is only available for DPOs with current DPO certificates. The course allow DPOs, who have not been on working DP vessel for a while, a method to refresh their knowledge about DP operations, DP Bridge team work, Emergency DP resource Management, and to stay current with the latest industry guidelines. The course has a significant component of simulations which include failures, and this will be of particular benefit to DPOs who work on vessels which are on DP 24/7.

• DP Rules and Regulations
• DP Sensors and PRS
• DP Set Up
• DP Bridge Watchkeeping
• Position Keeping
• Environmental Conditions
• Alarms and Indicators
• Change of DP Watch
• Normal Completion of a DP Operation
• Operating in Joystick Mode (DP Joystick)
• Emergency Situation

The overall course aim is to update the DPOs with the latest rules and regulations, position references and sensors, known DP incidents and lessons learned. At the end of the course, the student should:

• Have acquired knowledge of the latest rules and regulations
• Have acquired knowledge of the latest developments within sensors and PRS
• Have acquired knowledge of the latest relevant DP incidents and why they occurred
• Be able to recognize the various alarm, warning and information messages
• Carry out operational planning, risk assessment and hazard identification tasks
• Set up the DP system for a particular task/operation
• Decide on courses of action because of systems failure