This book is an in-depth treatment of the dynamic positioning (DP) system of marine vessels. The book guides readers intuitively through the steps in development of a DP controller. It shows the reader how to aggregate and assimilate knowledge from many related fields from vessel dynamics, through environmental disturbance modeling, to control design. The book covers a wide range of DP controllers from the basic proportional–integral–differential system to the most advanced system that employs nonlinear model predictive control.

Starting with the system description of a vessel and modeling relevant to control, the authors detail the physical model testing and field trials required for ship-model calibration. The book treats the interaction between environmental disturbance and vessel dynamics and pays detailed attention to filtering and estimation theories and their application to vessel-state estimation. This includes developments in the simultaneous estimation of states and unknown disturbances.

The implementation of such state-of-the-art work is described using easy-to-follow flowcharts and pseudocodes. Simulation studies provide performance evaluation results and downloadable MATLAB® code is provided to enable easy replication of many of the examples. A literature review and coverage of developing areas such as ice DP round out a comprehensive review of modern DP research.

Dynamic Positioning Control will be of interest to graduate students, researchers, academics, and engineers in the field of ocean engineering.

Dr. Syed Imtiaz is Professor and former Head of the Department of Process Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, Canada. Dr. Imtiaz received his B.Sc. degree in chemical engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), M.Sc. in environmental engineering from University of Calgary, and his Ph.D. in process control from University of Alberta, Canada. His research focuses on the development of data-driven methods for process monitoring, fault detection, predictive alarm systems, and advanced process control to systems including managed pressure drilling operations, autonomous marine vessels, process industries, and sustainable energy systems. His work integrates multivariate statistical techniques, Bayesian networks, machine learning, and deep learning methods to improve safety and reliability of systems. Prior to joining Memorial University, Dr. Imtiaz worked as Senior Advanced Control Engineer with Aspen Technology.

Dr. Salim Ahmed is Professor in the Department of Process Engineering. He is currently serving as Head of Process Engineering and Director of the Centre for Risk, Integrity, and Safety Engineering (C-RISE) in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, Canada. With expertise in process control, process modeling, and process safety, Dr. Ahmed has contributed to research by supervising 30 Ph.D. and master students, publishing over 100 journals articles and book chapters, and establishing new research programs. Dr. Ahmed received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in chemical engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Ph.D. in process control from University of Alberta, Canada. He has developed innovative approaches for warning system design using probabilistic modeling and fault detection methods using machine learning techniques. Dr. Ahmed serves as Associate Editor of Control Engineering Practice.

Dr. Shameem Islam is a Senior Research Officer at the Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC-OCRE) and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has over 25 years of experience in ship, ocean, and Arctic engineering, specializing in physical and numerical modelling of ships and ocean structures operating in harsh environments. His research interests include ship hydrodynamics, marine propulsors, dynamic stability and safe operations, hydroelasticity, wave-ice-structure interactions, and dynamic positioning and autonomous control systems for marine and ocean applications. Dr. Islam has supervised and co-supervised over 50 Ph.D., M.Sc., and undergraduate students and has served as an external examiner for numerous graduate theses. He has authored and co-authored more than 250 technical publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, and technical reports, and actively collaborates with industry, government, and academia on advanced marine technologies.

Dr. Hasanat Zaman has over thirty years of research and development experience in coastal and offshore engineering, spanning both academic and industrial domains at the Port and Harbour Research Institute of Japan and the National Research Council Canada. He possesses well-established expertise in theoretical and experimental wave mechanics, hydrodynamics, the simulation of large floating and gravity-based structures, control systems for marine autonomous surface vessels, and impact of internal waves on AUV under a wide range of environmental conditions. Dr. Zaman graduated with a B.Sc. in civil engineering from BUET in Bangladesh, an M.Sc. in coastal engineering, and a Ph.D. in ocean engineering from Nagasaki University in Japan. He has co-supervised Ph.D. and M.Sc. students and serves on examination committees at Memorial University of Newfoundland Canada in his capacity as Adjunct Professor. Dr. Zaman authored and co-authored about 100 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, and technical reports.