The focus of propulsion development is currently on efficiency and lifecycle cost. The proposed paper attempts a review of the advancement in Propulsion Technology for all Marine applications. We give emphasis to both the hydrodynamic performance of the propulsion units as well as the structural integrity, reliability and maintainability. Taking into account that the design process involves compromises, the designer attempts the best, pragmatic fulfilment of the technical and commercial requirements.

The applications cover main ship propulsion, offshore drilling applications (dynamic positioning) and special vessel designs including ice conditions.

The results show in particular (a) our systems approach on mechanical and electrical engineering and (b) the systematic approach on the vessel propulsive efficiency by using advanced computational techniques.