Define Bow thruster

bow thruster or stern thruster is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either
the bow or stern, of a ship or boat, to make it more maneuverable.

Description
They are generally used for maneuvering the vessel near the coastal waters or while entering or
leaving a port. Bow thrusters help in assisting tug boats in berthing the ship without wasting
time. This saves a lot of money for the shipping company because of lesser stay of the ships in
the ports. Moreover, presence of bow thrusters on a vessel eradicates the need of two tugs while
leaving and entering the port, and thus saves more money.

Generally, bow thrusters are transverse thrusters placed at the forward and aft end of the ship.
The thruster placed in the forward end is known as the bow thruster and the one placed in the aft
is known as the stern thruster. The requirement for the number of thrusters to be installed
depends on the length of the ship.

Construction and Working of Bow Thrusters

The bow and stern thrusters are placed in the through-and-through tunnels which open at both
sides of the ship. There are two such tunnels – at forward and aft ends of the ship. The thruster
takes suction from one side and throws it out at the other side of the ship, thus moving the ship in
the opposite direction. This can be operated in both the directions i.e. port to starboard and
starboard to port. The bow thrusters are placed below the water line of the ship. For this reason,
the bow thruster room should be checked for water accumulation at regular intervals of time

The bow and the stern thrusters can be electric driven or hydraulic driven or diesel driven.
However, the most commonly used are electric driven, as in hydraulic driven thrusters there
occur many leakage problems. Also, with diesel driven bow thrusters, the amount of maintenance
required is more and every time before starting someone needs to go to the thruster room to
check the thrusters.
Bow thruster consists of an electric motor which is mounted directly over the thruster using a
worm gear arrangement. The motor runs at a constant speed, and whenever there is a change
required in the thrust or direction, the controllable pitch blades are adjusted. These blades are
moved and the pitch is changed with the help of hydraulic oil which moves the hub on which the
blades are mounted. As the thruster is of controllable pitch type, it can be run continuously, and
when no thrust is required the pitch can be made to zero.The thruster is controlled from the
bridge and the directions are given remotely. In case of remote failure, a manual method for
changing the pitch is provided in the thruster room and can be operated from there.

Advantages

1) Better maneuverability at low speeds of the ship.

2) Safety of the ship increases when berthing in bad weather.
3) Saves money due to reduction of stay in port and less usage of tug boats.

Disadvantages

1) A very large induction motor is required, which takes a lot of current and load, and thus large
generator capacity is required.
2) Initial investment is high.
3) Maintenance and repairs are costly when there is damage.
*** Sketch from Reeds Ship contruction