For over 30 years now, Voith has been gaining experience with propulsion systems in the natural gas pipelay vessel Castoro Sei. This vessel is a semi-submersible platform which has been used for several decades to build subsea pipelines - most recently the new Baltic Sea pipeline.

Semi-submersible platforms are currently in demand all over the world: The new development of oil and gas fields such as those off the coasts of Brazil or in the South China Sea require reliable platform propulsion and positioning systems. This year alone, companies have invested approx. 8 bn USD in oil and gas projects at Korean shipyards.

The new Voith Radial Propeller is designated as VRP 38-45, which stands for a diameter of 3.80 m and an input power of 4 500 kW. With its compact design, the latest Voith propulsor targets the drilling vessel market, i.e. vessels equipped with a drilling tower or floating platforms with six or eight propulsion units. A dynamic positioning system on these vessels allows work to be carried out on the platform under almost any weather conditions - a requirement for which the VRP has been developed.