Pre-swirl goes with the flow

摘要

Pre-swirl or Stator fins fitted in front of the propeller have been a regular appendage on full body ship types such as bulker and tankers for some years now and have been demonstrated to improve the propeller's working environment. However, one of their drawbacks is that they can only be optimised for one condition, which neglects the variety of scenarios a vessel travels in, be it at design draught, partly in ballast or slow steaming.