Page 38 - NAVAL FORCES 03/2017

Interview

Full Power yards and owners. But we can confirm various
successful projects for the Royal Navy, the
Features Ahead French Navy, the Colombian Navy, the Ca- SPJ System:
nadian Coast Guard and for many others. You
can find SCHOTTEL propulsion systems with
navies and coast guards all over the world. The
international customers appreciate the close a very good
choice for
linkage between the commercial and navy/ shallow water
government business with SCHOTTEL and operations.
the resulting benefits. Our navy clients can
rely on the well-established after sales network
we have in place all over the world. Glasebach: We cannot influence political de-
cisions and we cannot predict the future de-
NAFO: How do you see the naval market de- velopment of crisis regions and conflicts. But
velop for SCHOTTEL? we, as an equipment supplier fully integrated
Strahberger: There are many projects out in the shipbuilding industry, can always make
there as there is still an increasing demand for our offers available to naval and governmental
versatile naval assets. At the end of the day we customers around the world. These offers are
are talking about ship propulsion and this is based on a huge experience with commercial
where SCHOTTEL has been successful for applications running in the field. This reduces
In an interview, Dr. Christian Strahberger many decades. Navy clients profit from our risks for navy clients. This is important to un-
(right), CEO SCHOTTEL GmbH, and huge experience in commercial ship propul- derstand because naval and governmental cus-
Kai Glasebach, Sales Director Navy & sion, not only regarding the product itself but tomers deal with public money and therefore
Governmental, shares with NAVAL also additional services: the demand for infor- are interested in getting the best value.
FORCES how the company provides high- mation and documentation in naval and gov-
quality propulsion systems and reliable ernmental business can be signifi cantly higher NAFO: Which new technical developments
after-sales service to the navies and govern- compared to commercial standard projects. will you be able to offer your customers in the
ments worldwide. From this perspective our manifold expertise near future?
makes the difference. Glasebach: This is determined by the market.
We listen carefully to the specific require- Maybe tomorrow there will be a class of ships
NAFO: The SCHOTTEL Group is one of the ments of navies and governments. Our focus we are not aware of today. We do not yet intend
world’s leading manufacturers of propulsion has been even sharpened by establishing a to start new developments from the drawing
and steering systems for ships and offshore sales segment “Navy & Governmental” to bet- board because this would lead to products,
applications. Which propulsion solutions is ter customize the products and services to the which we could only sell for navy ships and
SCHOTTEL offering specifically for naval and specific needs of those customers. which might be very expensive. We clearly
coast guard vessels? focus on operational requirements of the cus-
Dr. Christian Strahberger: Founded in 1921, NAFO: You mentioned Colombia as one tomers. For example, if a customer requires
the company has been developing and man- of your customers. The Colombian Navy’s shockproof equipment we will look into this
ufacturing azimuth propulsion and manoeu- landing craft “Golfo de Tribuga” uses two and discuss to what extent the system needs
vring systems, complete propulsion systems SCHOTTEL SPJ 82 RD pump-jets, especially to be modified or customized. Does the entire
with power ratings of up to 30 MW, and steer- designed for shallow water operations. Is this main propulsion system need to be shockproof
ing systems for vessels of all sizes and types. solution also suitable for riverine operations or is it sufficient to have a backup solution
The majority of the projects we conduct with that form an essential part of the missions of to get the ship out of the situation and take
navy and coast guard customers involve con- some of the navies or coast guards in South it back to port? In this case our new shock-
ventional controllable pitch propeller systems America? proof retractable rudderpropeller system type
(SCP) and bow thrusters (STT). Glasebach: Yes. Whenever shallow water SRP 190 RM could be a good solution. This
operations require high manoeuvrability the is a 360° azimuth thruster that can be used for
NAFO: Could you give us an idea of which SPJ system is a very good choice. With our slow speed manoeuvring and as a “take home”
navies are using SCHOTTEL systems? companies SCHOTTEL de Colombia and device. Additionally, our customers spare a
Kai Glasebach: It is always difficult to talk SCHOTTEL do Brasil we are well represented tunnel thruster and the openings in the bow
about references in this market, as we have to in the region. By the way, the SPJ is not only sections. This decreases drag and increases
respect confidentiality agreements with ship- a perfect choice for the shallow water vessels high-speed performance of the ship.
of the Colombian Navy; the SPJ is also used in Strahberger: Furthermore, we see a potential
amphibious vehicles and bridge erection boats for the Rim Thruster technology in different
of several armies all over the world. applications. This thruster generation does not
have a gear or oil filling and is space saving
NAFO: Where else in the world do you see to install. Due to the unique design we have
opportunities for SCHOTTEL propulsion sys- very low noise and vibration emissions too.
tems, including areas with developing mari- Those thrusters can be used as bow thrusters
time powers, like China or Africa? and might also be an interesting solution for
Strahberger: Such regions are certainly in the retractable systems.
focus for many navy procurement strategists. However, our focus is still on the main pro-
Currently we see a growing demand all over pulsion system SCP because this is what most
the world as many navy operations are joint navy ships require: quality, flexibility, availa-
Navy and coast guard internationally and are not limited to single bility. This is what makes a SCP system the
customers focus on conventional SCHOTTEL
controllable pitch propeller systems (SCP) countries or regions. The question is how perfect choice for varying operations in navy
and bow thrusters (STT). many projects will be realized? and coast guard ships. NAFO
36 NAVAL FORCES III/2017