Aberdeen based marine assurance specialist Seacroft Marine Consultants Limited has appointed John Whitham to lead its Dynamic Positioning function, which supports marine operations in the offshore oil, gas and renewables sectors.

Mr Whitham has over 33 years’ experience in the marine sector – 23 years at sea, 11 of these as chief engineer on offshore supply and anchor handling vessels, and 10 years in technical management roles onshore. His technical focus in recent years has been on safe use of dynamic positioning (DP) systems offshore, particularly review and authoring of DP Failure Mode & Effects Analysis documents and the conduct of DP trials for vessel assurance purposes.

Michael Cowlam, technical director of Seacroft Marine Consultants, says: “Dynamic Positioning systems are continuing to grow in sophistication, keeping pace with the industry’s reliance on the systems to support safe vessel operation in extremely close proximity to offshore structures. John Whitham’s appointment reflects Seacroft’s commitment to staying at the forefront of DP engineering and system assurance offshore.”

The initiative complements other Seacroft services providing manual ship-handling training at Aberdeen Harbour’s full mission bridge simulator – addressing industry concerns that traditional ship-handling skills are being diluted as a new generation of more ‘technology-reliant’ bridge officers comes through.

John Whitham, dynamic positioning and marine engineering manager with Seacroft Marine Consultants says: “I’m delighted to be joining Seacroft – a company I have known and respected for years – in a leading role in my specialism of DP systems assurance.

The creation of John’s new role is a further demonstration of Seacroft’s confidence in the sustainability of the recovery in the North Sea marine sector since the downturn of 2014-2017. The company has reported over £1.5 million in new contract gains in 2018 and notes the number of drilling rigs and vessels returning to the market after periods of lay-up.