Underwater Propeller Repair
Underwater repairs, maintenance and inspection for the international merchant fleet.
Damaged propeller problems
It is difficult to estimate the increase, but even a small percentage of extra fuel consumption will quickly exceed the repair price of underwater propeller repair.
Several problems arise from damaged or bend propeller blades. Due to the bent section of the blade, the pitch of this blade has increased and for sure your fuel consumption will rise. Even if you don’t notice any significant vibrations, because the propeller is now running heavier.
The fact that one (1) blade has a higher pitch, results in an unevenly distributed pressure on the propeller. The shaft installation was not designed to handle this.
The engine has to work harder, which could create the risk of overloading. Due to the bent section, the water does not flow smoothly along the blade surface, so there is a chance for further damage due to cavitation.
Sometimes an indication of this phenomenon is an increased level of propeller noise, but it is possible that you do not notice this during sailing at all, while cavitation damage still progresses.
Underwater Propeller Repair in 24 hrs
The total time for underwater propeller repair are normally under 24 hrs, with no drydocking or down time. It’s a cost effective solution that is guaranteed to get you back on schedule fast. Feel free to contact us!
FN Diving Underwater Propeller repair options
- Underwater propeller straightening
- Crack repair and propagation control
- Static balancing
- Replacement of Controllable Pitch Blades and Blade seals
- Restoration of Hydrodynamic edge tours
- Pitch and Camber alterations
- Full Thruster repairs and complete unit replacement
After detailed underwater inspection by our underwater propeller technicians and getting a clear overview of the damages and their proportional effect on the final Repair, we can either perform;
Propeller Straightening
By using up to the biggest underwater propeller repair apparatus in the world, specially designed for severe bend blades due to ice or impact damage.
Damaged propeller blades are straightened completely underwater by using a cold static load press by an FN Diving operations team bringing the blades to their original design possible to restore optimum performance and efficiency of the propeller.
These operations are normally done underwater without the ship to ballast the damaged propeller section out of the water.
Underwater Propeller Blade Cutting/Cropping
If straightening is not an option anymore or the static balance will be lost due to a missing piece on one of the blades, the affected area on the blades will be cropped to restore optimum performance and efficiency of the propeller.
This is done with the swiftest underwater diamond cutting equipment specially designed for propeller blade cutting repair in the World.
To repair your ship’s propeller can provide a number of benefits, including cost savings, improved performance, increased safety, quick turnaround, and environmental sustainability.
For more info on underwater Propeller repair contact FN Diving Rotterdam or Algeciras
