Enhanced safety for DP operation
Beyond environmental benefits, Kongsberg Maritime’s battery systems offer another crucial advantage: increased redundancy for critical offshore tasks. The battery system acts as vital backup power in case of engine failure, ensuring uninterrupted operation during DP manoeuvres.
Mike Kowalski, SEACOR Marine’s Engineering Manager, explains: “As far as deciding on the power capacity of the hybrid system, having redundancy in case of shut down is always front of mind.
“We use it as spinning reserve that’s just sitting there in the background. Add to that what we need for the peak shaving for the generators that are online, and we found that we don’t necessarily need more batteries. We can have a safe level of redundancy with less. However, the battery capacity sizing is based around the ship’s ride-through capability, compensating for any instance when a generator might go down.
“Depending on the average loading of thrusters during a DP operation, this system will give us around 20 minutes of ride-through capability, which in turn provides enough time for the ship’s electrical plant to react and automatically put standby generators online. With Kongsberg Maritime’s system, we don’t skip a beat.”