Emergency Response Service (ERS) For Superyachts

EMERGENCY RESPONSE SERVICE (ERS™) FOR SUPERYACHTS

Improving risk management strategies

Superyachts are owned and used by some of the most high-end and demanding people in the world, who have often made fortunes by analysing risk in business ventures. DNV’s Emergency Response Service (ERS™) helps superyacht owners and captains improve their risk management strategies and ensure that they are fully prepared and supported during any emergency situation.

Owners can be more emotional when purchasing or chartering a yacht compared to decisions in their business lives; however, they do expect the industry to offer them top service in all areas, especially concerning the safety of family or guests. DNV has been offering ERS™ to the shipping industry for more than 30 years and has a vast amount of experience in managing vessel incidents.

Erlend Moe, Head of Section, DNV ERS™, based in DNV’s Norwegian headquarters, has witnessed first-hand how disasters have been averted, in both commercial and superyachting incidents, thanks to effective actions coordinated from his team. Moe appreciates that superyachts already employ dedicated personnel ashore, usually within technical management companies, but explains that DNV’s ERS™ team adds invaluable expertise to complement this organisation.

Handling incidents swiftly and discretely

Unwelcome media attention is something that all owners prefer to avoid during an incident. “Owners want to handle incidents, such as a grounding, quickly and efficiently and get back to cruising as soon as possible,” Moe says.

“DNV’s ERS™ team, on standby 24/7, is mobilised and communicates with the captain and manager, using data from prepared models, tools and drawing on our expertise, to improve the situation and reduce the risk. For a collision or grounding incident a technical manager is not always in a position to act as effectively as we can, with all necessary data and expertise from our different experts at hand.”

Collecting all necessary data to act promptly in case of an emergency

The service starts with the enrolment process, involving preparing a stability and strength model for the hull and preparing simulations, all tailor-made, stored and ready for use in an incident such as collisions, groundings, flooding, engine failure, uncontrolled drifting, spillage or fire. Professional fees during any actual incident would usually be covered by the cruise vessel or superyacht’s insurance provider and are based on time providing the emergency response service and advice.

Ultimately the level of preparedness of a crew is raised by the advance modelling and crew training and, by having experts available, mitigation of risk is assured. Seven staff are on the ERS™ Duty Team at any one time and, upon receiving an emergency telephone call, a team of three is immediately mobilised, comprising a duty responsible officer coordinating the team, a stability expert and a strength expert. A fourth expert is also to hand having the competence and capacity to provide customers with drift predictions, monitoring for example meteorological data.

ERS service available independently from class

Superyachts classed by any classification society can benefit from DNV ERS™. Presently some 15% of commercial ships using the service are not classed by DNV. The dedicated ERS™ incident response rooms at DNV are spacious and impressive. The team thrives while working under pressure and has the benefit of a calm environment to make carefully considered decisions and give sound advice. This is in contrast to the stress the crew are most likely under if they have had cause to make contact, either directly or through their DPA. A typical first critical phase time might be from 8 to 16 hours, for example to stabilise a grounded vessel so it is safe, even if remaining aground in preparation for refloating at the next high tide. Then the ERS team may be demobilised and go off duty to continue operations the next day.

New drift prediction service adds additional value to ERS service

Drift Prediction is a newly implemented and integral part of DNV’s ERS™. An incident onboard a vessel can result in a disabled ship, oil spill, floating cargo or persons drifting in the water. Shipping companies and crew need to be able to determine the drift paths of ships, objects or spilled oil at an early stage after an incident to plan a prompt and efficient response when time is of the essence. In many cases, efficient handling of such incidents is significantly increased by having access to a prediction of the associated drift path.

Drawing on a software package OpenDrift – which is a generic and open-source software library for modelling trajectories of objects or substances drifting in the ocean – it predicts more accurately than any traditional methods where something is located or heading to. The simulations are executed through a web-based service hosted by MET Norway (The Norwegian Meteorological Institute). MET Norway pulls together sources of meteorological information from around the globe, that would be unreadable to the layman, and the data is combined with numerical models and repackaged to be useful.

When questioned about liferafts having Emergency Positioning-Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), Moe points out that sometimes EPIRBs become detached from a liferaft, vessel or person in the water and all have different drift patterns. DNV’s Drift Prediction can calculate these and it has already been proven in a man overboard (MOB) and a disabled ship incident.

ERS service comes with more and advanced tools and experience

Moe gives an overview of the benefits, explaining how, from the initial phone call, when the team is mobilised at the start of an incident, they know what information is required (the crew will already have the relevant forms to hand), know the important questions to ask to obtain the information required to perform the required calculations, assess the criticality of the situation on board and provide advice on handling and mitigation of the incident. “The technical manager benefits by outsourcing the handling of parts of the situation to us and being able to have peace of mind knowing we have more tools available, with capacity way beyond the onboard computers, to quantify the risk level in a situation and to advise on possible measures to improve it,” Moe explains.

During one superyacht incident, DNV ERS™ supported Fraser – one of the largerst superyacht firms – whose Safety and Crew Manager, DPA & CSO, Maxime Brégeon, summarizes the support: “DNV ERS™ was very professional, they worked days and nights over a period of a week to assist about the stability of a vessel and the best way forward to be able to move the boat. We had numerous meetings with ERS™ team via phone, camera, etc. This support and expertise was really needed and appreciated.”

Drills and exercises enable more targeted actions during incident

He adds that “Superyachts, like all vessels, follow the laws of nature. If you have an accident at sea, it is very important to quantify the physics as soon as possible, understand the level of risk, how it may change and what can be done to reduce risks.” Carrying out drills and exercises is recommended so crew get a better understanding of what their vessel can withstand and to get a better understanding of the capabilities provided by ERS™.

To know that DNV’s team of naval architects, marine engineers, master mariners, ship surveyors and approval engineers – with extensive expertise and long experience in providing ERS™ – is available 24/7 to lend support is reassuring for DPAs, captains, crew and owners of superyachts.

Benefits of ERS™

For every vessel enrolled in the service the crew and operator’s shore-based response organisation are able to:

• Quickly access damage control support 24/7

• Understand the criticality of vessel’s damage condition, even when the allowable safety margins of rules and regulations are exceeded

• Have uniform understanding of the damage situation between the crew and shore staff

• Verify their intentions and make confident decisions

• Take early, specific and effective actions

• Receive support on planning the entire time span “from incident to repair yard”

• Proactively handle the incident

• Train operational staff and test own incident response plan

• Comply with relevant and specific ERS™ requirements of rules, regulations, and requirements of authorities

ABOUT DNV

We are the independent expert in risk management and quality assurance. Driven by our purpose to safeguard life, property and the environment, we empower our customers and their stakeholders with facts and reliable insights so that critical decisions can be made with confidence. As a trusted voice for many of the world’s most successful organizations, we use our knowledge to advance safety and performance, set industry benchmarks, and inspire and invent solutions to tackle global transformations.

Disclaimer

All information is correct to the best of our knowledge. Contributions by external authors do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and DNV.

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