News

Thordon Bearings has received a Canadian Coast Guard contract to supply six award-winning SeaThigor shaft seals for retrofit installation to three purpose-built icebreakers. The order follows the success of the 2017 installation and subsequent operation of SeaThigor seals aboard the oceanographic and hydrographic survey vessel CCGS Hudson, for which a procurement agreement was signed with the Government of Canada under its Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP).

“This year, COMPAC truly comes of age,” said Thordon Bearings’ founder and polymer bearing and seal innovator, George A. (Sandy) Thomson: “And like any 21st birthday celebration, it is not uncommon for parents to speak with glowing pride about the growth they have seen in their children over their first 21 years. For me, COMPAC has matured into a robust, well-rounded and environmentally-conscientious adult, facing an exciting and prosperous future.”

Thordon Bearings' sister company T-G DNALOP has purchased the small Struzyska hydroplant in Pila, Poland, 180km south of its bearing and seal production facility, in Slupsk. The Struzyska plant operates three small turbines capable of generating 67kW of electrical power. Once two of the turbines have been refurbished and are back onsite, the Canada-headquartered company will operate the plant commercially, supplying electricity back to the grid.

Viking Jupiter, the 47,800gt cruise ship built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona, Italy for Viking Cruises, has been delivered with a Thordon Bearings’ seawater-lubricated propeller shaft system. It is the sixth Viking cruise ship to be fitted out with the COMPAC bearing arrangement.

Thordon Bearings’ Global Service & Support division completed the bearing conversion of the 10MW Francis turbine in June 2018 together with Andritz Hydro, after the existing white metal bearing was damaged due to water ingress from a faulty shaft seal. Through its regional distributor in India, Soneji Engineering, Thordon supplied a complete guide bearing package for the turbine’s 355mm (14in) diameter shaft. The scope of supply included an SXL guide bearing with tapered key set in a split stainless-steel housing, a SXL segmented radial shaft seal with split housing, a Thordon Water Quality Package (WQP) to deliver clean lubricating water to the bearing, and a comprehensive instrumentation package for monitoring bearing condition.

Fortum’s 10MW hydropower plant at Vassinkoski, Sweden, is now successfully operating with Thordon Bearings’ polymer SXL turbine guide bearing following the completion of the plant’s extensive renovation and recommissioning work.