A RETRACTABLE THRUSTER, A SWIMMING VESSEL AND A METHOD FOR RETRACTING AND EJECTING A PROPELLER OF THE RETRACTABLE THRUSTER

摘要

A retractable thruster for a swimming vessel, wherein the retractable thruster comprises a propeller and a lifting and lowering arrangement. The lifting and lowering arrangement is configured to vertically move the propeller between a retracted position and an ejected posi- tion. In the retracted position the pro- peller is substantially inside a bottom well of the swimming vessel and in the ejected position the propeller is sub- stantially outside the bottom well. The retractable thruster comprises a water- permeable protective element configured to be located inside the bottom well above the propeller and configured to vertically move with the propeller. In the ejected position the water-permeable protective element is configured to sub- stantially prevent loose ice from drift- ing inside the bottom well through the water-permeable protective element and when the propeller is moved from the re- tracted position to the ejected position, the water-permeable protective element is configured to push ice out of the bottom well. (Fig. 1A)