50 Years of DP with Record Attendance at Conference

The Dynamic Positioning Conference, held on 11th and 12th October 2011 in Houston, USA, broke previous attendance records, selling out before the actual event and attracting an attendance of over 350, including 31 active licensed DP operators. Over 20 technical papers were presented covering a range of DP-related topics, including presentations on ice testing, new applications, operations, power, sensors and thrusters. The conference concluded with a panel discussion on the MTS DP Design Guidance documentation.  

A workshop held the day prior to the conference attracted DP operators and other professionals from Asia, Europe, South America and the United States who participated in a hands-on discussion of operating guidelines and decision support during offshore project execution. This was followed by a highly successful two-day conference, which included an exceptional program of technical papers put together by Technical Chair Richard Simpson (BP).

Howard Shatto (Shatto Engineering), accredited as pioneering the use of Dynamic Positioning for offshore vessels,  introduced the conference with a presentation entitled ‘50 years of DP/15 years of the DP Conference' in which he outlined some of the history and highlights of Dynamic Positioning over the past half century. This was followed by a keynote address by Robert Patterson, vice president Upstream Major Projects, Shell International Exploration and Production - Projects and Technology.

Luncheon programmes included a talk by the United States Coast Guard on the Coast Guard's perspective on DP Operations, and an awards ceremony at which Suman Muddusetti (Shell International Exploration and Development) was honoured with the Dynamic Positioning Committee's Distinguished Achievement Award. The Conference also introduced attendees to two key documents spearheaded by Suman Muddusetti and available through the website

Twenty-five companies showcased their products and services and an array of major companies showed their support through their generous sponsorship. Proceedings from the Conference were provided on memory sticks to all attendees and will also be published online through this website.

The Dynamic Positioning Conference is internationally recognised as the leading annual professional symposium covering the latest changes, developments and technology pertaining to dynamic positioning.

Attracting an international audience of DP professionals, world-class experts present cutting-edge papers on the latest technology and developments associated with Dynamic Positioning, while DP manufacturers and service companies exhibit their products and services. Planning for DP 2012 is already underway. Proceedings from the 2011 Conference will be available to all attendees online and can also be purchased through the DP website.