Authorized Distributor News

Thordon Bearings, the pioneer in water-lubricated bearings, secured a new order for a rudder bearing that was fitted to a 77.1m (253ft) research ship that frequently operates in ecologically sensitive marine environments.The 38-year-old Ocean Endeavour, operated by the UK’s Gardline, a multi-disciplinary marine survey company which operates a fleet of 13 multi-role survey ships, was recently fitted with Thordon’s SXL rudder bearing at UK Docks Marine Services’ Teesside drydock.Bruntons Propellers…

Thordon Bearings reports it has secured a second major Mexican Navy contract for the supply of its water-lubricated SXL wear rings for retrofit installation to the waterjet propulsion nozzles on 25 interceptor patrol vessels.The contract follows the success of extensive trials in which the SXL material replaced the use of other anti-corrosive coatings in waterjet impeller housings, resulting in increased resistance to cavitation induced corrosion.Rotary Parts, Thordon’s authorized distributor in Mexico, is supplying the housings for 25 Polaris and Polaris II fast patrol boats.

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 vessel 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…

Thordon Bearings said Monday that its water-lubricated elastomeric polymer bearings have been  installed to well pumps aboard an undisclosed offshore oil platform operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).Five KSB three-stage mixed flow impeller-type pumps were each retrofitted  with Thordon pump bearings - 13 SXL intermediate bearings, four Composite bearings and a single SXL throttle bearing -  replacing the  original silicon carbide bushes, the company said.Dubai-based engineering firm Ocean Power International (OPI)…

Thordon Bearings’ authorized distributor in Mexico, TZ Industrias, has secured an order to supply the Canadian company’s TG100 shaft seals, equipped with a safe return to port (SRTP) emergency seal, to a quartet of shrimpers operated by Pesquera Axel, one of the country’s leading fishing vessel operators.TZ Industrias will deliver four 127mm (5in) diameter mechanical seals to the Mazatlán-based repair yard Constructora y Reparadora de Buques for installation this June to the 7m (23ft) long fishing vessels Kukulkan…

The southern hemisphere’s first fully electric, carbon fiber commuter ferry has successfully completed its inaugural round trip with a Thordon seawater lubricated propeller shaft arrangement supplied by New Zealand’s Henley Engineering.Ika Rere , Mãori for flying fish, joined the East by West fleet in December operating the company’s Wellington to Eastbourne route.Commenting on the ferry’s first trip, between West Queen’s Wharf and Days Bay, Henley Engineering Managing Director, Mark Power, said: “Ika Rere runs like a Tesla Model S! It’s fast, efficient, smooth and quiet.

Canadian manufacturer Thordon Bearings confirmed it has secured contracts to supply 24 TG100 propeller shaft seals to Drydocks World-Dubai and Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding and Repair yards for installation to six UAE Navy vessels. Each quad screw ship will operate a quartet of TG100 shaft seals.Rafid Qureshi, managing director of Dubai-based Ocean Power International (OPI), Thordon’s authorized distributor in the region, explained the award win was “a direct result of the yards’ recommendations”…

China’s Fujian Southeast Shipyard has delivered four in a series of five new product tankers ordered by Malaysia’s Orkim Sdn Bhd.The 9000dwt Orkim Sapphire and Orkim Pearl, and 14,500dwt Orkim Diamond and Orkim Emerald represent the first vessels in the ship operator’s fleet to be fitted with a COMPAC seawater lubricated shafting system from Thordon Bearings.Working with the shipowner’s representative, Shanghai-based CY Engineering, Thordon’s authorized distributor in China, supplied…

CCGS Terry Fox, one the largest icebreakers in the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) fleet, has returned to service with new Thordon propeller shaft bearings after concluding that fitting laminate phenolic bearings would extend drydock time and costs.The 88-meter-long vessel, built in the 1980s, had been operating Thordon’s water lubricated elastomeric polymer bearings on both shafts for 24 years. Then in 2018 the port shaft was retrofitted with a European made laminate phenolic-type bearing as part of a shaft alignment contract with the manufacturer.In December 2020…

Canyon Marine Solutions has been approved as an authorized distributor for Thordon Bearings.The Virginia-based engineering firm will provide sales and engineering support to Thordon’s complete portfolio of marine bearing and seal products in the states of Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia.Canyon Marine Solutions, which officially began representing the company on April 1st has already secured a major order for Thordon Bearings. The company…

Canadian provider of polymer bearing solutions Thordon Bearings said that its ThorPlas-Blue has established itself as the bearing of choice for deck equipment, with European shipyards and owners frequently specifying the grease-free bearing system as standard for vessels’ winches, fairleads, davits, capstans and windlasses.According to a press note from Thordon Bearings, Sweden’s Falkvarv AB, Oresund Dry Docks, and the Oskarshamnsvarvet shipyard have been particularly strong proponents of the grease-free bearing, with these yards maintaining an inventory of ThorPlas-Blue stock with which to replace worn and costly bronze bearings and bushings when vessels drydock for repairs.

Swedish manufacturer Cimco Marine has developed the world’s first 200hp diesel marine outboard – named the OXE Diesel – for maritime security agencies, yacht tenders, municipalities and military applications.As Trace Laborde, Marine Manager for Laborde Products, said, “The OXE diesel is the complete package, a true diesel engine. It’s great for any maritime application that requires fuel efficiency, simple maintenance, compliance with all European and EPA Tier 3 regulations, and unmatched performance.

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.Two 930 passenger-capacity sisterships, Viking Tellus and Viking Venus, currently undergoing construction at Fincantieri and slated for delivery in 2021, have also been specified with the pollution-free Thordon system.

The bearing installations to two Calm Buoys operating offshore Libya are indicative of the wide-range of applications Thordon’s environmentally-safe bearing systems have outside the company’s traditional maritime market.A total of 48 bearings and bushings were supplied in 2014 for installation to the chain stoppers of Monobuoy’s 400t turntable Calm Buoys, a single point mooring system designed to allow oil tankers to load and offload cargoes offshore, without having to berth alongside the refinery.

GE’s Marine Solutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with RJE Global, Morphettville, South Australia, whereby RJE will assemble GE LM2500 gas turbine modules and manufacture a number of components for this engine in support of the Royal Australian Navy’s new SEA 5000 frigate program. The MOU was signed by both companies recently at RJE’s facility in Adelaide. The nine-ship SEA 5000 Future Frigate Program will replace the aging Anzac class frigates. GE’s LM2500 gas turbines are operational on two of the short-listed qualified ship designs -- Fincantieri’s FREMM and Navantia’s F100.

All operators worry about the same thing – the next outage that puts your vessel out of commission. Millions of dollars are invested every year into maintenance programs. State-of-the-art condition monitoring systems like the Windrock 6400 can predict and help prevent downtime and failures. Performance monitoring can be described as the process of gathering data from machinery to assess the overall operating capacity of the system it is a part of. Data is compared either against an existing database (trending), or a model (model-based), to diagnose existing issues and show the beginning of wear and tear on mechanical components. With a need to provide workboat operators with better forms of maintenance to forecast problems in an efficient and timely manner…

AME President Richard Merhige has pioneered the use of lasers in the marine industry. AMEsolutions.com is comprised of Advanced Mechanical Enterprises/AME and Advanced Maintenance Engineering/AME, comprehensive marine and industrial engineering services companies specializing in Predictive, Preventative and Corrective Maintenance for rotating machinery. Since 1992, AME has pioneered the use of the most cutting-edge technologies and state-of-the-art equipment to the diagnostics, maintenance and repair of rotating machinery, particularly for private and commercial vessels.

Thordon Bearings Inc. of Canada announced that CY Engineering Co. Ltd. will take over as the new authorized distributor for the People’s Republic of China, including Macau and Hong Kong, effective August 28, 2015. With this agreement, CY Engineering becomes Thordon’s stocking distributor for manufacturer of nonmetallic marine bearing systems. A company with over 25 years’ experience in seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing systems, Thordon Bearings designs and manufactures a complete range of nonmetallic sleeve bearing solutions for marine…

The Resource Power Group appointed Chimas Sylve as Spare Parts Coordinator at its new Deer Park facility near the Houston Ship Channel. “Chimas brings with him knowledge of not only the MaK engine line, but also MaK gas engines as well as the entire Caterpillar engine line,” said Mike Kriner, Branch Manager for the Houston facility. “Our Houston facility is less than a year old, but is already growing rapidly both in medium speed engine and turbocharger services,” said Mike. Previously Mr. Sylve spent nine years at the parent company, Louisiana Cat, where he provided both parts and service support for the Caterpillar line of engines including the MaK gas and diesel products.

Unique System FZE, a Unique Maritime Group Company, a turnkey subsea and offshore solution provider, was appointment as an authorized distributor of Lamor for the Middle East region for their entire range of Oil Spill Response Kits. Unique System FZE will be responsible for the sale, service and rental of these Oil Spil Response Kits. www.uniquegroup.com

Water lubricated Thordon Composite cutterhead shaft bearings have performed well for nine years on one of the largest cutter suction dredgers in the world–Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering N.V. (DEME)’s D'Artagnan (28,200 kW total installed power). The vessel had a major dry docking at Drydocks World-Dubai in February 2014 where the shaft was removed, and bearings and shaft inspected. Originally built in 2005, the D'Artagnanself-propelled cutter suction dredgeris involved in very heavy rock-breaking having a cutting power for operations in rock soils of 6000 kW.

While the marine industry is rife with rough working conditions, dredging operations arguably pose the toughest challenge to any class of marine equipment. Water lubricated Thordon Composite cutterhead shaft bearings have reportedly performed well for nine years on one of the largest cutter suction dredgers in the world –Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering N.V. (DEME)’s D’Artagnan (28,200 kW total installed power). The vessel had a major dry docking at Drydocks World-Dubai in February 2014 where the shaft was removed, and bearings and shaft inspected.

Nova Scotia’s sailing ambassador, 'Bluenose II', fitted with Thordon Bearings' water-lubricated stern tube & rudder bearings. Nova Scotia’s sailing ambassador, the Bluenose II, relaunched September 29, 2012 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia fitted with pollution-free water lubricated stern tube and rudder bearings. The extensive two-year $15.9 million restoration work was done by the Lunenburg Shipyard Alliance, made up of Covey Island Boat Works, Snyder's Shipyard and Lunenburg Industrial Foundry & Engineering.