OREANDA-NEWS. Rolls-Royce has this week celebrated 50 years since it delivered the first azimuth thruster. Today, the product range is one of the Group’s most successful marine products, powering and positioning some of the world’s largest floating structures.

Azimuthing thrusters rotate through 360 degrees, providing propulsion and maneuverability, without the need for a rudder.

At an event in Rauma, Finland, John Rishton, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce and Mikael Makinen, President – Marine, Rolls-Royce, joined employees to mark the occasion.

John Rishton said: “Today marks a hugely significant milestone for our Marine business and particularly the team here in Rauma, our centre of excellence for large thruster production.

“Our customers operate in some of the most demanding conditions on the planet, and need not only high power, but consistently reliable power, and that’s exactly what these thrusters deliver.”

Mikael Makinen, added: “This is a proud day for our business. From its early inception as a steerable propeller, the Rolls-Royce azimuth thruster range has developed into a world-leading portfolio today, providing high power for drillships, semi-submersible rigs and other vessels including tugs, icebreakers and offshore support vessels.

“Renowned for robust engineering and high reliability, our large azimuth thrusters are built to last. Often operating for five years at a time without any major maintenance, their success can be attributed to the expertise of our design and production teams, and decades of operating experience.”

The Pioneering Spirit, the world’s largest construction vessel, will be powered by 12 Rolls-Royce azimuth thrusters, when it enters service on decommissioning duties in the North Sea, later this year.

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

  1. Rolls-Royce’s vision is to create better power for a changing world via two main business divisions, Aerospace and Land & Sea. These business divisions address markets with two strong technology platforms, gas turbines and reciprocating engines. Aerospace comprises Civil Aerospace and Defence Aerospace. Land & Sea comprises Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems.
  2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 120 countries, comprising more than 380 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
  3. Our business is focused on the 4Cs:
    • Customer – placing the customer at the heart of our business
    • Concentration – deciding where to grow and where not to
    • Cost – continually looking to increase efficiency
    • Cash – improving financial performance.
  4. Annual underlying revenue was ?14.6 billion in 2014, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at ?73.7 billion at the end of 2014.
  5. In 2014, Rolls-Royce invested ?1.2 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
  6. Rolls-Royce employs over 54,000 people in more than 50 countries. Over 15,500 of these are engineers.
  7. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2014 we employed 354 graduates and 357 apprentices through our worldwide training programmes. Globally we have over 1,000 Rolls-Royce STEM ambassadors who are actively involved in education programmes and activities; we have set ourselves a target to reach 6 million people through our STEM outreach activities by 2020.