All-electric vessel thruster unveiled

This electric version of the Voith Schneider Propeller (eVSP) combines the technology of a conventional VSP with the Voith inline thruster.

It has been developed as shipyards are building more vessels for harbour operations, towage, offshore renewables and passenger ferries with electric propulsion.

“With the eVSP, we are making an important contribution to the electrification of the driveline in marine applications and thus to even more resource-saving shipping,” said Voith vice president of research and development for marine applications Dirk Juergens.

“The new eVSP was developed for this purpose for all applications involved in the mobility revolution, such as offshore supply vessels, tugs and ferries,” he said.

Its new eVSP uses a permanent-magnet synchronous motor as its main drive, which is fully integrated into the VSP and significantly reduces the required oil volume and complexity of the propeller.

The complete omission of gears reduces noise to a minimum and frees up critical space on a vessel. Voith said it has low maintenance requirements and operators have a choice of electrical power generation to supply to the motor.

“No gears or transmissions are required, enabling stepless operation and virtually loss-free conversion of the electrical drive power with dynamic response characteristics,” said Voith.

An eVSP would enable a vessel to be driven and controlled with one unit.

Experience with offshore windfarm support vessels with a VSP have demonstrated this control in wave heights of up to 4.5 m.

Voith said its “VSP is the only propeller in the world that can significantly reduce the rolling motion of ships and thus significantly increase comfort and safety on board.”

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