Underwater Mountable Thrusters Preferred for Deepwater Drillship
Claudio Paschoa
June 15, 2013
Azimuth Thrusters have been propelling deepwater drillships for a number of years now. Not only do they propel the drillships from ports to their drilling stations but also undertake the vital task of maintaining the ship’s position during drilling operations. As most people know deepwater drillships do not anchor but maintain dynamic positioning through the use of groups of thrusters. Depending on the size of the drillship, these may be grouped in threes or fours, and are always positioned fore and aft on traditional drillships. These dispositions vary in semi-submersible drillers and cylindrical drillers such as those developed and used by Sevan Drilling.