TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kim, Jeongmin
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/25
TI  - Environmental and Operational Implications of Dynamic Positioning Failures in Offshore Operations: A Review of IMCA Reports from 2018 to 2024
JO  - Recent Progress in Science and Engineering
SP  - 023
VL  - 02
IS  - 04
AB  - Dynamic Positioning (DP) systems are widely used in offshore operations such as drilling, subsea construction, cable laying, offshore renewable energy support, and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations. As offshore activities become increasingly dependent on DP capability, failures in DP systems may result in operational disruption, safety concerns, and environmental exposure. Although advances in automation and redundancy have improved DP system reliability, the offshore industry continues to report DP incidents and undesired events. This paper reviews DP station-keeping events reported by the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) between 2018 and 2024. The reported percentages reflect descriptive compositions of voluntary submissions rather than incident rates or statistically generalizable temporal trends. The review focuses on recurring reported patterns related to thruster and propulsion failures, electrical faults, position reference problems, computer-related failures, and human factors. The review also discusses the operational and environmental implications of DP failures during offshore activities. Loss of position, reduced redundancy, and degraded vessel capability may increase the risk of collision, subsea equipment damage, operational downtime, and other offshore safety concerns. The paper also highlights the ongoing contribution of electrical and human factors to reported DP events. Finally, the paper discusses several approaches that may improve the resilience of future DP operations, including predictive maintenance, decision-support systems, and AI-based monitoring technologies. The findings suggest that DP failures should be considered not only as technical malfunctions, but also as part of a broader offshore operational and environmental risk management issue.
SN  - 3067-4573
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/rpse.2604023
DO  - 10.21926/rpse.2604023
ID  - Kim2026
ER  -