BEACAN™ THRUSTER CANISTER (THE ORIGINAL CANISTER)

Beacon Finland has created a solution related to maintenance and service of the thruster systems of a vessel. The BeaCan™ Thruster Canister (originally known as “the Beacon Canister”) is mainly targeted to the Offshore industry and vessels operating in deep see conditions. Additionally the BeaCan™ Thruster Canister enables the vessel to operate in shallow water. The thruster systems can also be retracted during transit of the vessel and thereby reduce the resistance and save fuel costs.

The first BeaCan™ Thruster Canister was originally designed, together with Global Marine (Transocean), already in 1997 for two drill ship built for the company. Beacon made the original design and was involved in construction and installation of the canister. The design work included both classification engineering and fabrication drawings. The canisters were manufactured in Finland and installed at Harland & Wolff Shipyard in Belfast.



General

BeaCan™The main purpose of the BeaCan™ Thruster Canister is to enable inspection, overhauling and maintenance of the thruster system in the vessel. To put it simple, it is an elevating mechanism and space to lift the thruster unit above waterline for service operations. The construction includes:

  • A lifting mechanism for retracting and lowering of the canister
  • A primary locking system (BeaLok™) for each position, with a secondary system for increased security
  • A guiding system between the canister and the trunk to keep the canister on track in the retracting and lowering phase
  • Sealing arrangements to keep the sea water away

By installing a BeaCan™ Thruster Canister the operator is able to uninterrupted continue the drilling operation, although one of the thruster units is out of order or taken in for maintenance. The major benefits of the BeaCan Thruster Canister for the operator are:

  • Improve vessel operability through reduction in capacity down time
  • Enable thruster unit maintenance more easy and safe
  • Reduce maintenance related costs

Models

Beacon Finland has created different versions of the BeaCan™ Thruster Canister to fit almost any type of vessel. The versions that the company offers nowadays are further developed and more advanced than the original ones. This means that Beacon Finland can meet most of the demands, provided that our experts get involved already in an early stage of the designing of the vessel.

As the original designed version elevated the thruster system above water line, the latest developed version offers the possibility to do the maintenance work in a dry service space by closing the trunk watertight below water line. This version is called BeaCan™ Thruster Canister with Underwater Service Space. It has a Concept approval by a Classification society and has a patent pending.

The original BeaCan™ Thruster Canister has been further developed to even better meet the various demands of different types of vessels and operational circumstances. The 2nd generation of BeaCan™ has many remarkable features that makes it outstanding compared to the original version.

Please do not hesitate to contact us to find out the features of the 2nd generation of BeaCan™ Thruster Canister. For further information, please contact our Technical Director, Mr. Timo Rintala,
tel. +358 2 8387 9500, firstname.surname@beaconfinland.com

Features & Benefits of BeaCan™ Thruster Canister with Underwater Service Space

The BeaCan™ Thruster Canister with Underwater Service Space has all the features and benefits as the original version has, like

  • Enables inspection, overhauling and maintenance of the thruster system in the vessel
  • The thruster systems can also be retracted during the transportation of the vessel
  • The operator is able to uninterrupted continue the drilling operation, although one of the thruster units is out of order or taken in for maintenance

The BeaCan™ Underwater Service Space concept allows full service of the thruster and separate maintenance operations like

  • Propeller change
  • Propeller shaft change
  • Anodes change
  • Check of possible leakages
  • Check of possible damages on thruster unit
  • Classification inspections

Differences to the original canister concept

  • Maintenance work is less independent of sea state
  • Allows also more demanding service and overhauling work
  • Fits inside the ship´s hull

All these additional features contribute to

  • reduction in capacity down time
  • cost savings
  • increased safety

The Underwater Service Space is feasible for Drillship, FPSO, FPDSO, FLNG, etc.