Development of submersible electric motor propulsion to support maritime sector in Indonesia

The Indonesian Government is working to develop Indonesia as a global maritime axis by accelerating the sea toll program as one of its main sectors of development. Therefore, a lot of marine vessels will be highly needed. Bow thrusters are a type of propellers that help a better maneuverability of the ships at lower speeds. Currently, most ships in Indonesia still use conventional electric motors. The technology has some weaknesses such as high noise, ease of lubricant oil leak, and low efficiency. This paper proposes a design of the submersible electric motor. The electric motor is connected directly to the propeller without gears so that it can increase system efficiency, reduce noise, and vibration level, and also it is environmentally friendly due to no lubricating oil leak. The design and simulation results show that the performances of the designed electric motor meet the requirements of naval architect and propeller designer.