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 (3) and a lifting and lowering arrangement (4). The lifting and lowering arrangement (4) is configured to vertically move the propeller between a retracted position and an ejected position. In the retracted position the propeller is substantially inside a bottom well (5) of the swimming vessel and in the ejected position the propeller is substantially outside the bottom well. The retractable thruster comprises a water-permeable protective element (7) 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 substantially prevent loose ice from drifting inside the bottom well through the water-permeable protective element and when the propeller is moved from the retracted position to the ejected position, the water-permeable protective element is configured to push ice out of the bottom well.