A Day in the Life of a DP Operator

[bloggervb]

Morning comes early.







[I]You walk on the bridge, the smell of fresh coffee fills the air. The DPO on the desk gives a tired smile, as his rel... Click HERE to read the full blog article.

[Kingfysh]

How automated are the DP systems? Is it a matter of setting and updating a set of parameters and then letting the computer do the work?

I had a friend that was certain that DP was a field he wanted to be in, until he did 60 days as a cadet on a DP vessel. He found it so boring he wanted nothing to do with it. Is his experience typical, ie 95% boredom 5% terror?

[Capt. Lee]

Sometimes I can't believe I get paid to do this.

[anchorman]

Sometimes I can't believe I get paid to do this.

Sometimes, I can't believe you still fish....

One Saturday morning (true story) Lee got up early, quietly dressed, made his
lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. He hooked up the boat up to the
Dodge truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was
blowing 50 mph, so He pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and
discovered that the weather would be bad all day.

He went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped
back into bed. He cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different
anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."

His loving wife of several years replied,

"Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"

[john]

He found it so boring he wanted nothing to do with it. Is his experience typical, ie 95% boredom 5% terror?

So here's the story about how I got a Chief Mate's job on a drill ship at 24 years of age.

1) I got a DPO trainee job
2) After 6-months of boredom I began calling the Capt every morning asking if the guys on deck needed any help.
3) After a few month of saying "No, you need to study" he finally said "The guys are cleaning the sh!^ tanks, are you still interested in helping?"
4) I said "Hell yes! Anything to get out of this room for a few hours." and worked the day with a smile.
5) He began giving me other crappy jobs which I eagerly accepted.
6) The C/M left and I was offered the job.

[Sharp21]

Funnily enough I just posted a bit of an article about the boredom of DP!
Boring DP is Good DP
And its not 95% & 5%, Its 99% & 1%!
S.

[Sharp21]

It should be noted as well that Drillships are the worst of the bunch for boredom.
A lot of DP activities are very engaging, such as Diving or Pipe lay.
S.

[Capt. Lee]

Sometimes, I can't believe you still fish....

One Saturday morning (true story) Lee got up early, quietly dressed, made his
lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. He hooked up the boat up to the
Dodge truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was
blowing 50 mph, so He pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and
discovered that the weather would be bad all day.

He went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped
back into bed. He cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different
anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."

His loving wife of several years replied,

"Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"

Your wife sure was warm!

[richard8000milesaway]

I agree with Sharp21: it all depends on what sort of DP work the vessel is doing; I'm presently Senior DPO on a cool vessel in the south atlantic doing subsea ops and boring it is not.
Having said that, there are times of steady routine when I find it benefitial to re-read the operators manual for the DP system I'm using then utilize the knowledge (re)gained during manuevers.
As a professional mariner for +23 years, boredom is an issue I have dealt with many times; my observation is that people have characteristics which lead them to be bored regardless if they are bored as a DPO, 2nd Mate, 1st engineer, Captain, Shoreside Marine Superintendent, etc. Perhaps there is a relationship between those who get bored and those who are naturally boring themselves? who knows.

fair winds,

[Sharp21]

As a professional mariner for +23 years, boredom is an issue I have dealt with many times; my observation is that people have characteristics which lead them to be bored regardless if they are bored as a DPO, 2nd Mate, 1st engineer, Captain, Shoreside Marine Superintendent, etc. Perhaps there is a relationship between those who get bored and those who are naturally boring themselves? who knows.
,

Thats it right there. Your time offshore is what you make it. Personally I have always found ways to fill my time, doing things I wouldn't normally have time for when home. It's part of what I love about my work
S.