Silversea Cruises has completed a unique series of remote sea trials for systems on board its newbuild ship Silver Origin, constructed at Dutch shipyard De Hoop, with vessel operations carried out over the internet from shore.
The sea trials were held off the coast of Goeree-Overflakkee in the Netherlands. With travel to the vessel restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and sub-contractors unable to reach the ship, it was decided to conduct elements of the trials remotely.
This include a remotely conducted dynamic positioning acceptance test, which examines the ship’s ability to remain within 10cm of a fixed point without dropping anchor. The ship’s dynamic positioning system was remotely tuned and calibrated by a third party more than 1,800km away in St. Petersburg, Russia, over the internet.
An operative from St. Petersburg completed the manoeuvring tests using a headset and a camera, with the ship’s Captain acting as his lookout from on board.
“This was the first time such an operation has been completed remotely during a sea trial,” said Fre Drenth, the Director of De Hoop Shipyard.
“The tuning was successful and took no longer than usual. It demonstrates that it is possible to tune dynamic positioning systems remotely. It could potentially save a lot of travelling time for engineers in the future. I am enormously proud of my team for their work.”
The finishing touches are now being applied to Silver Origin, ahead of the ship’s delivery in the coming weeks. Currently docked in Pernis in the Netherlands, the ship will set sail for the Galapagos Islands after being delivered to Silversea Cruises.
