Egypt’s SUMED pipeline operator Arab Petroleum Pipeline Company (SUMED) has completed the tailshaft conversion to Thordon’s SXL seawater-lubricated bearing system for seven special purpose single point mooring (SPM) service boats. The final in a series of 17.5m (57.4ft) long, 1976–built service boats had its original oil-lubricated tailshaft bearings replaced with the Thordon system at Nefertiti Marine’s Yard-K, in Rosetta Nile, in December 2022. The first vessel, SUMED 10, was converted in 2019.

Ecuador’s foremost tuna fishing operator NIRSA has completed a project to convert the tailshaft seals and bearings aboard the 1973-built tuna vessel BP EL Marquez to a seawater-lubricated package from Thordon Bearings. In total, four Thordon SXL propeller shaft bearings and a pair of TG100 mechanical shaft seals, each of which features Thordon’s emergency-safe-return-to-port (SRTP) capability, replaced a competitor’s seawater-lubricated bearings and stuffing box after the shaft had suffered early wear due to gland packing. Bronze shaft liners were also included in the Thordon scope of supply in what marked a significant retrofit project that required the renewal of shafts, sterntubes, seals and bearings.