In particular, a forward maneuvering thruster has the capacity to make the mooring and departure easier, given that it makes it possible for the vessel to approach the shore from both sides without the use of the main propulsion system. In bigger vessels, it is possible, and quite common, to integrate multiple maneuvering thrusters, both in the stern and bow.

This type of fixed coaxial propeller is mounted, fixed, and placed inside the hole created in the keel of the vessel, side to side, and it is a component capable of transverse thrusts in a fixed direction, having is axis of rotation perpendicular to the vessel’s plane of symmetry.

In case you do not want to have holes through the keel (for hydrodynamic reasons, for example) you can use a retractable azimuth propeller. The propeller unit is extracted, at the bottom of the keel, through a guide tube that, sliding inside a second tube inside the keel, allows the exit of the maneuvering propeller. Another advantage of this system is that the propeller can rotate around its vertical axis.