DP Surveyor Spotlight: Meet Barry Devlin, DP Manager UK, Aberdeen
Barry Devlin, Chief Engineer, Chartered Engineer and IMCA Accredited DP Practitioner, heads the Dynamic Positioning team for Europe & West Africa, from our offices in Aberdeen.
After over 25 years of experience at sea on offshore vessels he decided to transition from his seafaring role and join the ABL team onshore, utilising his experience to assist our clients with their needs…
What inspired you to specialise in Dynamic Positioning?
I joined my first Dynamic Positioning offshore vessel in 2000 and the complexity of the systems and technology has fascinated me ever since.
The DP industry is constantly evolving, including the level of detail required to analyse ships technical systems with the ultimate aim of eliminating DP accidents and incidents, a challenge that is very rewarding and fulfilling.
What does your day-to-day look like as a DP & Critical Systems Manager at ABL?
My day-to-day includes many online meetings to manage the UK Dynamic Positioning team, ongoing project management, writing DP and FMEA trials programs and trials attendance, writing FMEAs, DP assurance work and a lot of engagement with our clients.
During my 25 years seagoing experience on all types of offshore vessels, I have encountered and overcome many challenging problems and situations. This has increased the knowledge pool of the DP team, which enhances the quality of the service ABL offers to clients.
What is your background?
I’m a qualified Chief Engineer, with 25 years as seagoing marine engineer. I’ve served on all types of DP offshore vessels in addition to large bulk carriers and cruise vessels. I’m a qualified commercial Marine Surveyor and affiliate member of the International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS).
Can you tell us about something interesting you are working on right now?
I’m currently assisting a client to resolve technical issues on a particular vessel, with rudder command and feedback failures that may exceed the worst case failure (WCF).
I also recently worked on writing an FMEA for a rather challenging DP vessel which required developing solutions in order for the vessel to comply with DP2 regulations and also ongoing Annual DP and 5 Year FMEA Verification trials for various vessels.
What does the future look like in energy and oceans?
In my opinion, the future is hybrid technology and green fuels, as well as autonomous and semi-autonomous DP vessels, which present their own set of unique challenges to overcome.
Barry and the ABL Americas team will be at this year’s DP Conference on 14–15 October! Join our local DP experts in Houston to learn how ABL’s multi-disciplinary team of engineering and operational specialists supports Dynamic Positioning systems across technical, assurance, and project management scopes – both in the region and beyond.