Patent ID: 7641526

Claim:
A floating marine vessel comprising: a. a hull having a hull bottom; b. at least one well in the hull oriented toward a sea floor; c. a movable and removable canister disposed in each well; d. at least two rack and pinion drives connected to each movable and removable canister, disposed in the well for moving each movable and removable canister between a deployed position and a retracted position; e. an electric motor disposed within each movable and removable canister, each electric motor connected to a rotatable connecting shaft; f. a rotatable thruster input shaft with a rotatable thruster input shaft axis connected to each rotatable connecting shaft, removably connected within each movable and removable canister; g. an azimuthing thruster removably connected to each movable and removable canister comprising: (i) at least one slewing drive for each azimuthing thruster, wherein the at least one slewing drive engages a slewing bearing for steering each azimuthing thruster; (ii) a thruster housing; (iii) a pinion gear in the thruster housing connected to the thruster input shaft; (iv) a bull gear in the thruster housing connected to the pinion gear; (v) a propeller shaft with a propeller shaft axis at least partially within the thruster housing, wherein the propeller shaft further engages the bull gear; (vi) a seal and a plurality of bearings within the thruster housing wherein the seal provides a watertight and oil tight seal for the propeller shaft; (vii) a propeller connected to each propeller shaft wherein each propeller is external to the thruster housing; wherein the propeller shaft axis is oriented at a downward angle 95 degrees to 110 degrees from the rotatable thruster input shaft axis to reduce the thrust losses from friction of the propeller wash to the vessel bottom, through the coanda effect, and to reduce thruster to thruster interference caused by propeller wash; and (viii) a nozzle disposed around each propeller further connected to each thruster housing for focusing propeller wash; h. a lubricating tank at atmospheric pressure in each movable and removable canister; and i. an atmospheric pressure lubricating fluid disposed within each lubricating tank, further wherein each lubricating tank supplies atmospheric pressure lubricating fluid to each thruster and bearings.