Propeller Propulsion Systems News

France's state-owned naval contractor DCNS Group has won a A$50bn ($40 billion) contract to build 12 submarines for the Australian Navy, beating bids from Japan and Germany. Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister, announced that DCNS awarded tender over Germany and Japan to build fleet of Barracuda-class submarines in South Australia. The decision to build a new fleet of submarines in partnership with DCNS represented “a momentous national endeavour,” he said. The Shortfin Barracuda submarines will be built in Adelaide using Australian steel, creating 2,800 jobs, he said. French President Francois Hollande hailed the decision as historic.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. introduced its new 120-ft., 4,200-hp Inland Towboat design, Thunderbolt, combining twin electric V-Pod propulsion and diesel-electric technology for what the builder calls its “vision of the future for the U.S. Eastern said the idea for the Thunderbolt came from a conversation at a trade show. On the rivers, thruster propulsion systems are starting to get noticed and are outperforming conventional nozzle propeller propulsion systems with main/flanking rudder steering. Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. and Verhaar Omega, B.V.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. introduced its new 120-foot, 4,200-horsepower Inland Towboat design, THUNDERBOLT, combining twin electric V-Pod propulsion and diesel-electric technology for what the builder calls its “vision of the future for the U.S. Eastern said the idea for the THUNDERBOLT came from across the aisle conversations at the 2013 International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans. On the rivers, thruster propulsion systems are starting to get noticed and are outperforming conventional nozzle propeller propulsion systems with main/flanking rudder steering. Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. and Verhaar Omega, B.V. began discussions and realized they were driving towards a more refined towboat thruster propulsion system design.

In 2011, Teknicraft Design of New Zealand designed and engineered what is believed to be one of the first quad propeller propulsion systems for a catamaran hull in the U.S. Designed for a newbuild, 134-foot research vessel recently delivered to C & C Technologies, Inc. of Lafayette, LA, the propulsion system had to accommodate many multi-missioned tasks. These will include shallow water hydrographic surveys, deep water offshore surveys and AUV operations. “It’s been about a three or four year story for me…

A New Option for Catamaran Workboats. In 2011, Teknicraft Design of New Zealand designed and engineered what is believed to be one of the first quad propeller propulsion systems for a catamaran hull in the U.S. Designed for a newbuild, 134-foot research vessel recently delivered to C & C Technologies, Inc. of Lafayette, LA, the propulsion system had to accommodate many multi-missioned tasks. These will include shallow water hydrographic surveys, deep water offshore surveys and AUV operations.

AP&M Field Service and Rolls-Royce Naval Marine Inc have entered into a Teaming Agreement to focus efforts on supporting Ship Transfer programs for the U.S. Navy. The program will combine the expertise of Rolls-Royce Naval Marine in servicing of shipboard Allison 501 generator sets and propeller propulsion systems with AP&M Field Services LM2500 shipboard service capabilities. A contract to support the four-ship, KIDD Class transfer program for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy was awarded to Rolls-Royce in May. Rolls-Royce will maintain overall program management, while AP&M Field Services provides on-site project management and LM2500 technical service.

The early 1980s witnessed the birth of the first generation Autohydro by Coastdesign Inc. (now called Autoship Systems Corporation (ASC)). Autohydro was one of a very few PC-based first principles stability and longitudinal strength programs available on the market of the day. Running in DOS, Autohydro quickly became world-renowned as a robust, dependable design and analysis tool for the creation of trim and stability books. Even today, some users of these early versions of Autohydro call ASC asking for advice. Since those early times, ASC has continued to improve Autohydro. The most recent release, Autohydro 6.0, includes many new features that hundreds of naval architects around the world rely on for their hydrostatic and strength calculations.