Editor adrift in a pod

Cruise Travel, May-June, 2005 by Lou Erlich

In Peter Knego's article about the Regal Empress (Cruise Travel, April 2005), he says in part "... as a series of squared-off megaships maneuvered past with azimuth- and thruster-enhanced agility...." Since azimuth is the direction of a celestial object measured clockwise around the observer's horizon from the north, it has nothing to do with a ship's agility to maneuver. I believe that he meant to use the word azipod, not azimuth.

Lou Erlich, Richboro, PA

Azipod is one of the brand names for the azimuthal podded propulsion units frequently used on today's cruise liners--units that can rotate 360 degrees and resemble a giant outboard motor, and which replace a ship's traditional propeller/drive-shaft/rudder system; "azimuthal" is applied here in the sense of "distance in angular degrees measured clockwise from a standard direction." Indeed, "azimuth" was a poor word choice to describe these podded propulsion units.