Development of Tunnel Thruster Series Propellers for Low Noise and Vibration

In order to assist the industry to meet the higher demands on comfort class of a ship at present days, the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) initiated 3 years ago a Joint Industry Project (JIP) on tunnel thrusters, focusing on noise and vibrations as well as the side force. A joint investment has been made by 23 industry partners and MARIN, together with Dutch government subsidies. The study has been going for 3 years since then, through investigations on low noise and vibration thruster designs, series propeller designs, model tests, data acquisition and analyses, results reporting and software development, and finalized at the end of 2018.