Norwegian propulsion specialist Brunvoll is to deliver shock-qualified retractable azimuth thrusters – which use an electric motor drive to the thruster – for fitment to the five F-110 multifunctional, anti-submarine heavy frigates that are due to replace six of the Spanish Navy’s older ships.
“We have had a long-standing collaboration with the Spanish shipyard group Navantia ever since the yard installed Brunvoll’s shock-qualified retractable azimuth thrusters in the five Norwegian frigates of the Fridtjof Nansen class,” noted Brunvoll sales director, Per Olav Løkseth. “Since then, we have had many spin-off effects of our collaboration, with deliveries of thruster systems to a number of naval vessels of Navantia design to both Australia and Turkey.”
The new frigates have an advanced design with a high degree of automation. They will have a length of 145m, a width of 18m and a draft of 5m. The displacement will be 6,100 tons and each frigate will have a crew of 150 people. Top speed is over 25kts. The thrusters will be delivered between 2023 and 2028 and Brunvoll notes that its retractable azimuth concept has also been developed for use in commercial vessels in offshore, fishing, coastal tankers and large shuttle tankers.
