The Fincantieri Marine Systems Business Unit has introduced an innovative family of tunnel thrusters by establishing a new state of the art in terms of comfort, reliability, environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, according to a press release.

The company also said that a leading maritime classification society validated and certified the results of the hydrodynamic optimization, confirming that the Fincantieri thrusters reach the lowest levels of vibrations and noise available on the market, capable of satisfying even the needs of the most demanding segments.

A new patented system of tunnel closure elements (thruster shutters) ensures a significant reduction in terms of hull drag and total required propulsion power, with a fuel saving between 5% and 10 percent. .

The solution consists in high transversal thrust performances (optimized hydrodynamic flow), mechanical protection of propeller (assembly designed to act as a grid) and compactness. The adopted design solution paid the most attention to maintainability criteria, allowing to minimize the time of drydock operations and to carry out maintenance with floating ship.

The reduced interface guarantees easy arrangements on new projects and retrofit on existing tunnels. 

Fincantieri said it is able to offer a complete and cutting-edge Green Package to shipowners, designed for the highest sustainability of the top performing and reliable set of marine equipment:

• the last born high comfort Tunnel Thruster System completed by its tunnel closure for a perfect hull restoring while cruising;
• fin Stabilizers for energy saving and environment protection through its patented grease lubrication (studied for an easy retrofit);
• the high-efficiency Heat Recovery System dedicated to on board application.