I've seen pictures of the real Red Eagle ferry which clearly show the white crossed bow thruster symbol at both ends of the ship - but surely a ship like the Red Eagle with the Voith Schneider setup has all the manouverability it needs without having Tunnel thrusters? Am i missing something?
I think you are correct saltydog. Those are thruster marks, not necessarily bow thruster marks. They are often displayed on vessels to warn of a continuously turning propulsion system. I have seen the marks on tractor tugs as well as on the quarter of some ships with CP props.
No, a lot of the symbols are missing in the game, probably for poly reasons. Some of the ships do have the symbols though, like the Vermaas, Latitude, Sherpa and RPA.
If the symbols are part of the texture, it is hard to understand how they could affect the poly count.