What TECHOP O-02 is
TECHOP O-02 (Rev1, January 2021) describes how to create an Annual DP Trials programme that complies with IMCA M190 and M191, using information from the vessel's DP FMEA and its proving trials programme (O-02 §2.1). It applies primarily to DP Equipment Class 2 and 3 vessels (§2.2.1).
Annual trials exist to show that a redundant DP system still has the three elements its fault tolerance rests on (§2.4):
- Performance: redundant equipment is present in the required number and capacity.
- Protection: the protective functions that stop a fault crossing from one redundant group to another work.
- Detection: the alarms that reveal a loss of redundancy or a hidden failure work.
O-02 also contains a gap analysis template, so stakeholders can judge to what extent a given Annual DP Trials programme complies with the guidance provided by IMCA and MTS (§2.1). That template, in Appendix D, is what GapAnalyzer applies.
What the checklist covers
The gap analysis has two parts. The Review of Preamble checks whether the introduction to the trials report and the test sheets contain the necessary general information, such as power plant and control system configuration (Appendix D.1, item 2). The first preamble question is whether the worst case failure design intent is identified (Appendix D.2).
The Review of Content then examines the tests in the programme for evidence of each test category that should be included (Appendix D.1, items 3 and 4):
Within each category, the first row states the principle the programme must achieve, followed by examples of systems or functions that should be tested (Appendix D.1, item 5). Columns mark whether each item applies to open bus-tie, closed bus-tie or DP Class 3 operation (item 7), and whether the test might be suitable for planned maintenance (item 8). GapAnalyzer takes the vessel's DP class and bus-tie configuration at upload and marks items that do not apply as not applicable.
How findings are graded and summarised
Each item is graded by how fully the trials programme addresses it (Appendix D.1, item 9). GapAnalyzer's verdicts map onto the same four grades:
| O-02 colour | Meaning in O-02 | GapAnalyzer verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Test or issue fully addressed | YES |
| Yellow | Partially addressed | PARTIAL |
| Red | Not addressed | NO |
| Grey | Not applicable to this vessel's programme | N/A |
O-02 then sets out how to summarise the result: subtract the not applicable entries from the total and present the relative percentages of reds, yellows and greens in a summary report, with a copy of the completed gap analysis table (Appendix D.1, item 10). That is exactly the summary GapAnalyzer reports. It adds no score or grade of its own.
Why an O-02 review takes a specialist
The first line of O-02's guide to the gap analysis is the reason it is rarely quick: execution requires a detailed knowledge of the vessel's DP FMEA (Appendix D.1, item 1). A trials programme is built from the FMEA. The reviewer has to know the worst case failure design intent, the redundant groups, every common point between them, and every protective function and alarm the redundancy concept depends on (§3.2), and then check that a test in the programme proves each of them. Each test sheet should cross reference the FMEA statement it tests (§4.3.4).
In practice that means an experienced DP engineer working through the programme with the FMEA open beside it, item by item. GapAnalyzer does that first pass, so the engineer's time goes on the findings rather than on the checklist.
| Manual O-02 review | GapAnalyzer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | A DP engineer who knows the vessel's FMEA | Automated first pass; your engineer reviews the findings |
| Coverage | Depends on the reviewer working through every row | Every applicable item evaluated, every time |
| Traceability | Comments in a spreadsheet | Each verdict cites the programme section it relied on; click through to the source page |
| Summary | Red, yellow and green percentages, worked out by hand | Red, yellow and green percentages of applicable items, per O-02 Appendix D.1 item 10 |
What you get
The MTS O-02 companion spreadsheet, preamble and content sheets, with the verdict, the supporting evidence from the programme and a comment on every row.
Each finding points to the section of the trials programme it relied on. Open it and the source page sits beside the assessment.
Items that O-02 marks for a different bus-tie arrangement or DP class than your vessel's are set to not applicable, so they drop out of the percentages as O-02 intends.
Red, yellow and green shares of the applicable items, the summary O-02 asks for, alongside the full table.
Frequently asked
No. The A, B and C categories in O-02 grade findings from the trials themselves, when test results are not as expected (§7). The gap analysis in Appendix D reviews the trials programme document itself and grades each checklist item green, yellow, red or grey.
The Annual DP Trials programme as PDF or DOCX, with the vessel's DP class and bus-tie configuration. Scanned documents are run through OCR first.
Those are separate analyses: the DP system FMEA against TECHOP D-05, and FMEA proving trials against TECHOP D-02. GapAnalyzer also covers the DP operations manual (O-01).
Documents are stored on our own servers in the EU, no human reads them during analysis, and our model providers do not train on them. The details, including sub-processors and NDAs, are in the main FAQ.