Imagine being able to take something as a simple as a barge, and convert it into a highly sophisticated dynamically positioned vessel. Now, imagine this conversion being done dockside, in the water, in a week's time. Thrustmaster's deck-mounted Portable Dynamic Positioning System (PDPS) eliminates the need for dry-docking, structural changes to the vessel, and only takes a minimal amount of deck space, so a vessel can be ready to go with a minimal amount of down time. The Arctic Discoverer was the first vessel on which a Thrustmaster portable DP system was installed in 1988, and the Thrustmaster 4 x 500-hp portable DP system was used by Nippon Salvage on its 270 x 85 x 17-ft. (82.2 x 25.9 x 5.1-m) deck barge, which has been outfitted for reel pipelay.