News

Thordon Bearing’s evolutionary COMPAC seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearing system, has been nominated in the Auxiliary Machinery category of the European Marine Engineering Awards, which will take place in Amsterdam next month. Craig Carter, Thordon Bearings’ Head of Marketing and Customer Service, said: “We are absolutely delighted that COMPAC has been nomitated for such a prestigous award. Being nominated for an engineering award is testemant to the advances our engineers and scientists have made in polymer technology.

China’s Qingshan Shipyard has delivered AP Revelin, the second in a series of two environmentally sustainable handy-size bulk carriers, to Croatia-based shipping company Atlantska Plovidba d.d. from Dubrovnik.The 38,700dwt ‘ecoship’ will join first of class AP Dubrava, which was delivered in July 2015. Each 180m (591ft) long tramp trader, built to theGreen Dolphin 38 design unveiled by Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI) in 2012, features Thordon Bearings’ seawater-lubricated COMPAC propeller shaft bearing system and a Thordon Water Quality Package (WQP). This will provide a clean and consistent supply of seawater to the bearings even when the vessel is docked downstream of the current in shallow waters.

Extensive sea trials aboard Greenland, the world’s first LNG-fuelled short-sea dry bulk vessel, have validated the performance of Thordon Bearings COMPAC propeller shaft solution, indicating that seawater-lubricated bearing systems are applicable to all ship types and are definitely here to stay.

Thordon Bearings has welcomed the introduction of a new classification society notation this week allowing extended inspection periods for propeller shafts using seawater-lubricated bearings. DNV GL’s new voluntary TMON notation for open loop water lubricated propeller shafts follows similar rule revisions by Lloyd’s Register (LR), Bureau Veritas (BV) and the China Classification Society (CCS). Thordon Bearing’s Commercial Director, Andy Edwards, said: “As long as certain condition monitoring criteria are met, DNV GL’s new rules mean that propeller shafts operating water-lubricated bearings no longer need to be withdrawn for inspection every five years. There will be no pre-determined intervals between shaft withdrawal surveys.” “The five-year shaft inspection rules previously stipulated in most shaft condition monitoring notations were a major deterrent to the wider take-up of the water lubricated system, but now the world’s leading classification society has revised its rules we can present a viable and proven alternative to oil-lubricated propeller shafts.”

After nine years of operation in the harsh, abrasive waters of Alaska’s Yukon River, aboard Inland Barge Service’s push boat Ramona, Thordon Bearings’ RiverTough water-lubricated tail-shaft bearing system has emerged completely free of wear and tear. The exceptional performance of the RiverTough bearings in waters renowned for their high content of gritty glacial silt came to light when the 16m (52.5ft) workboat’s cracked struts underwent repair in dry-dock. Charles Hnilicka, the owner of Inland Barge Service Inc, said: “In the spring of 2011 we were doing some hot work on one of the struts and decided to change the bearing since everything was apart. We didn’t have to and could have reinstalled the original bearing after the hot work, but we had a spare set. “When we took it out, the RiverTough bearing and sleeves had no appreciable wear and tear, which was amazing considering the environment in which the Ramona operates.”

COMPAC, Thordon Bearings’ seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing system, won the prestigious Tanker Shipping & Trade Environment Award yesterday following a verdict that the system allows shipowners to cost-effectively comply with stringent marine pollution rules.