News

In an initiative set to be transformational for ship design while protecting the oceans from pollution, Thordon Bearings and Wärtsilä have announced the formation of the Blue Ocean Alliance to develop and promote the revolutionary sterntube-less ship concept. The Blue Ocean Alliance brings together unrivalled maritime industry expertise, with seawater-lubricated bearings pioneer Thordon Bearings, systems integrator Wärtsilä, the School of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), naval architect SDARI (Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute CSSC) and classification society, ABS, who championed the initiative in 2019.

Seawater-lubricated bearings pioneer Thordon Bearings has welcomed the publication of Gard’s latest research into the potential hidden costs of synthetic Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants (EALs). Far-reaching financial and environmental consequences can result when a propeller shaft seal failure occurs, with the Norway-headquartered marine insurance firm pointing to a “significant increase” in propeller shaft aft seal damage following the 2013 introduction by the US EPA of new Vessel General Permit (VGP) rules.

Thordon Bearings’ ThorPlas-Blue grease-free bearings won the annual IBJ Environment Protection (Marine) Award 2023 during a gala dinner last night hosted by British comedian Hugh Dennis and International Bulk Journal publisher Ray Girvan. Thordon Bearings was also nominated in the Innovative Technology Award category for the same product. Designed and developed by Thordon, the polymer deck equipment bearings not only eliminate the risk of pollution from greasing systems, but also offer easy installation, and a long, maintenance-free bearing wear life.

Two European hydropower plant operators have replaced the bearings on their Francis-type turbines with water-lubricated bearings from Canada’s Thordon Bearings after oil was leaking from their original metal bearings. In two separate contracts, Croatia-based Skoring d.o.o., Thordon’s authorized distributor for the region, supplied wicket gate bearings to the 36.8MW Hrvatska Elektroprivreda-operated plant in Rijeka, Croatia, in July. In August, they retrofitted new turbine guide bearings to turbines at the 1500kW Elektro Ljubljana-operated HPP Sava Brod plant, in Slovenia.

Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) has joined the major classification societies to amend its rules relating to the inspection of seawater-lubricated propeller shaft systems. The amendment means that ships with open seawater-lubricated propeller shafts that are built to ClassNK rules are subject to the same 15-year shaft withdrawal inspection periods as oil-lubricated shafts and sterntubes, subject to monitoring criteria.

Delegates at an international water industry conference learned that bearing selection plays a critical role in vertical turbine pump (VTP) performance, and that application, medium and bearing material should also be considered during pump manufacturing or refurbishment.