Editing Engine room (section)

===Thrusters===
In addition to this array of equipment is the ship's thruster system (on modern vessels fitted with this equipment), typically operated by [[electric motor]]s controlled from the bridge. These thrusters are laterally mounted propellers that can suck or blow water from port to starboard (i.e. left to right) or vice versa. They are normally used only in maneuvering, e.g. docking operations, and are often banned in tight confines, e.g. [[drydocks]].{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Thrusters, like main propellers, are reversible by hydraulic operation. Small embedded hydraulic motors rotate the blades up to 180 degrees to reverse the direction of the thrust.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} A variant on this is the [[azipod]], which are propellers mounted in a swiveling pod that can rotate to direct thrust in any direction, making fine steering easier, and allowing a ship to move sideways up to a dock, when used in conjunction with a [[bow thruster]].