Page 69: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2015)

land or Offshore vessel, requiring class or not,” said Steve Berthold, VP, Eastern

Shipbuilding, in a recent interview with

MR sister-publication MarineNews.

In selecting the podded propulsion sys- tem for inclusion on the design, Eastern came upon Verhaar Omega after meet- ing with two inland owner/operators that currently have Z-drive towboats, and others that didn’t. Listening to each and noting their concerns, it was decided that the V-Pod was the best solution. Because the Thunderbolt will typically operate in shallow, sometimes turbid, debris ? lled water, ESG designed underwater pro- tection in the form of a pipe guard pro- tection system for each Omega V-Pod.

These pipe guards protect the V-Pod al- lowing the vessel to ride over shallow water mud ? ats, protect the vessel from side bank impacts when turning in rivers and canals and stern impact protection when backing down.

Omega itself offers a propeller guard which is bolted directly to the nozzle which protects the propeller from debris entering and being lodged between the blade tip and the nozzle. The Omega V-

Pod propulsion electric motor also has a shutdown sensor with alarm and is reversible, allowing the operator to re- verse propeller rotation enabling nozzle/ propeller jammed debris to be dislodged.

The Omega V-Pod is designed with reduced maintenance in mind. The V-

Pods are enclosed in the aft main deck superstructure, with no drive shafts, cou- plings, drive gears, hydraulic systems or external piping systems. With the Thun- derbolt mounting ? ange situated above the design waterline, dry-docking is not required for maintenance.

Thunderbolt was designed for the medi- um horsepower inland towboat ? eet with twin 2 x 1,770HP (1,320kW) propulsion units and still be capable to operate in the ICW and canals at a design operating draft of 9.5 ft.. Currently, Omega has V-

Pod units ranging from 445HP (330kW) to 2011HP (1,500kW), but the thrust ef- ? ciencies underway and the maneuver- ing capabilities are far greater than con- ventional tail shaft, propeller and nozzle propulsion systems. Comparing them to

Z-drives the V-Pod ef? ciencies are most realized in reduced fuel consumption and higher thrust ef? ciencies.

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