Special Side Thruster Arrangements

Now and then, there are special requirements for positioning and maneuvering.

We have delivered side thrusters in special arrangements, such as
* hinged; e.g. behind the stern on a high speed boat
* in revolving pods with hydraulic swing
* in hinged propulsion arrangements under a barge

In the first case, the stern of the ship was so shallow that there was no space for the side thruster. Therefore, the solution was to mount the side thruster hinged to the stern, so that it could be lifted hydraulically during speed, i.e. under bottom level, when the boat was going to maneuver.

With revolving pods, the problem was free maneuvering in all of Seawalk’s directions; a high floating stage with a long hinged gangway, developed by Cruise Ventures. The solution was 2 off 250 HP side thrusters, each mounted on a long revolving shaft mounted to a solid gear rim/hydraulic pinion system we have developed ourselves. Driven by HPUs designed by us, with 16 liter Nogva/Scania industrial diesel as power source.
So far, we have delivered complete installations for 3 Seawalks.

 

In the last case, for Seløy kystberedskap, we needed to arrange for the propulsion of a shallow barge where the bottom of the barge sometimes had to be completely smooth to be able to operate in shallow waters. Here, the solution was 2 off hinged propulsion units of 600 HP, each made of by 2 off of 300 HP counter rotating side thrusters mounted side-by-side, and arranged in such a way that they can be tipped down for driving or pulled up into the hull when they are not used.
Here, we also delivered a complete hydraulic installation driven by a large diesel engine, along with all control systems and control panels.