REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

www.mod.gov.rs

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Material Resources Sector

Defensive Technologies Department

Military Technical Institute

www.vti.mod.gov.rs

a bow thruster contribution of ship maneuverability improvement

Vojkan Madić

Technical Test Center, Belgrade, vmadic@gmail.com

Abstract: A bow thruster is propulsion device built into the bow of a ship to make it more maneuverable. Bow thruster make docking easier, since it allows the captain to turn the vessel to port or starboard side, without using the main propulsion mechanism which requires some forward motion for turning. The biggest ship of our River fleet “BPN Kozara” was overhauled and modernized in Shipyard Apatin during period 2010-2013. Transverse bow thruster is installed into the ship during this period. Reasons and criterions for bow thruster choice and installations technical description are shown in this paper, as well as maneuvering trial results. All advantages and disadvantages which bow thruster caused on ship Kozara are counted on the end of this paper.

Keywords: ship, bow thruster, maneuverable, turning circle.