Kort Propulsion

With a long and distinguished history-powered by the quality of its products and service, Kort Propulsion, provides a single source from which vessel designers, builders or operators can secure a complete package of propulsion and manoeuvring devices.

Coastal shipping, offshore, towage, inland waterway, dredging, fishing and ROV, are among the market sectors of this Thameside firm that pioneered the Kort Nozzle – a groundbreaking shrouded propeller assembly – back in the mid-1930s.

Based in Kent, UK with a partner manufacturing facility at Dartmouth, Devon, Kort designs and supplies propulsion equipment for vessels from the small to the large. Global customers range from Australian and Philippines’ offshore windfarm businesses, to Romanian waterway operators. The brand is strong: everyone knows who we are.

Ship propellers must be highly efficient, with energy converted to thrust with only a minimum of loss and without generating unwanted vibration and inboard noise. Erosion damage due to propeller cavitation – the formation of an empty space within a solid – must also be avoided.

Kort is employed by many owners, shipyards and designers at the design stage to ensure vessel performance meets specification.

Finding the right balance between these demands is a major task of the designer. The next design step is to define the blade geometry that satisfies all these requirements. The hydrodynamic performance is evaluated by computational analyses and often followed by model experiments.

As any naval architect or vessel operator knows, a propulsion system which is matched to complement a vessel’s hull design will maximise this vessel’s performance and manoeuvrability.