3.1 General
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Circulars - Maritime Safety Committee - MSC/Circular.645 – Guidelines for Vessels with Dynamic Positioning Systems – (Adopted on 6 June 1994) - Annex - Guidelines for Vessels with Dynamic Positioning Systems - 3 Functional Requirements - 3.1 General

3.1 General

  3.1.1 In so far as is practicable all components in a DP-system should be designed, constructed and tested in accordance with international standards recognized by the Administration.

  3.1.2 In order to meet the single failure criteria given in 2.2, redundancy of components will normally be necessary as follows:

  • .1 for equipment class 2, redundancy of all active components;

  • .2 for equipment class 3, redundancy of all components and physical separation of the components.

  3.1.3 For equipment class 3, full redundancy may not always be possible (e.g., there may be a need for a single change-over system from the main computer system to the back-up computer system). Non-redundant connections between otherwise redundant and separated systems may be accepted provided that it is documented to give clear safety advantages, and that their reliability can be demonstrated and documented to the satisfaction of the Administration. Such connections should be kept to the absolute minimum and made to fail to the safest condition. Failure in one system should in no case be transferred to the other redundant system.

  3.1.4 Redundant components and systems should be immediately available and with such capacity that the DP-operation can be continued for such a period that the work in progress can be terminated safely. The transfer to redundant component or system should be automatic as far as possible, and operator intervention should be kept to a minimum. The transfer should be smooth and within acceptable limitations of the operation.


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