It's a hard problem. The bearings that rotate the azipods are huge, carry the entire propulsive force of the ship as an angled side load on the bearing, are below the water line, and are holding something that goes through the hull. Look at one of those things, think about the stresses, and wince.

Bearings with huge side loads are rarely used, because they wear badly. Ordinary ship screws are on a straight shaft through the stern, with a thrust bearing and seal. Far simpler, and solved a century ago. On the other hand, if you haven't solved the bearing and seal problems of propulsion pods, you shouldn't be selling propulsion pods.

"Ship early, ship often" gives you a terrible reputation in the heavy machinery business. There was once a saying in the railroad equipment business - "Never buy equipment from somebody in a better climate than yours." The good railway equipment manufacturers were in upstate New York, and over-designed everything. Which is what you want when a snowplow has to force the ice off the tracks, and devices in the trackway need to survive that. That's why you see railroad equipment packaged in half inch thick cast iron boxes.[1] That's from General Railway Signal in Rochester, NY.

[1] https://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/541/sintonswitch....