Views from Under the Waterline

Here are a couple more photos from Eurodam’s recent drydock in Trieste, Italy.

Chief Electrician Ed van Weijen sent this image of the two Azipod propulsion units. You can really grasp the size of the ship when you compare it to the size of the workers. Note the one worker on the scafolding by the portside Azipod and the two workers near the center of the photo touching up the ship’s paint.

Captain Werner Timmers, master of Zuiderdam, was kind enough to send us an “Azipod 101″ that explains how the podded propulsion units work:

Basically the pods are big outboard engines. The propellors and their electric motors hang underneath the ship and can be rotated to provide thrust in any direction we want. So to steer, we turn the pods. There are no rudders. For maneuvering in port we also have three bow thrusters with 2,500 horse power each.

There are basically three modes to steer the ship:

When in sea mode, either the ship’s wheel or the autopilot on the bridge controls both pods at the same time, and the steering angle is limited to 35 degrees. This is much like a conventional ship. The wheel is only about one foot across — not like in the old sailing ship days.

When in maneuvering mode, the control of the pods is separated and they are operated individually from two separate control levers. Each pod can be turned 360 degrees and run forward or astern as needed.

When in joystick mode, both pods and the thrusters are controlled by a single control lever. We turn the control lever in the direction we want the ship to move and the computer decides how it will use the pods and thrusters to accomplish the movement.

Chief Officer Andre van Schoonhoven sent us the photo of the port stabilizer fin below. Stabilizers usually are used to reduce the roll that a vessel experiences while underway due to wave action. The fins extend beyond the hull of the vessel below the waterline, and their angle can be adjusted depending on the heel angle of the vessel. The stabilizers operate similarly to airplane wings.