The Art of Propeller Making
The world’s biggest propellers have their cradle in the North of Germany. MMG – Mecklenburger Metallguss GmbH – has manufactured for more than 65 years propellers for ships, including the biggest and fastest, in the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. With the manufacture of propellers up to 130 tons, its manufacturing process requires a delicate hand and lots of patience. Despite the fact that commercial shipbuilding has shifted to the Far East, the melting-furnaces in Waren an der Müritz, headquarters of MMG, have not switched off.
Editorial: BWTS. Like it or Not, Here it Comes
With age comes perspective, and in my 20 plus years reporting on this industry I have seen my fair share of regulation that has served to ‘raise the hackles’ of ship owners. It is quite simple really; new regulation often means new procedure, new design, new equipment and new costs. With the possible exception of the new rules in the wake of the Exxon Valdez which mandated double hulls on tankers, the Ballast Water Management System issue is the most acrimonious debate I have witnessed.
A Heavyweight on Display at SMM
On Thursday morning a huge mobile crane placed the five-blade ship propeller in front of the main entrance of Hamburg's fair center, Hamburg Messe. The propeller is a head-turner at this year's SMM, the leading international trade fair of the maritime industry. Weighing in at around 80 metric tons, with a diameter greater than nine meters and a total blade surface area of 42 square meters, the ship propeller made by Mecklenburger Metallguss GmbH (MMG) is an impressive head-turner at this year's SMM, the leading international maritime trade fair.
SMM Showcases Containership Propeller
Visitors to SMM 2006 won't be able to miss the enormous exhibit, symbolizing shipbuilding, displayed in front of the East Entrance of Hamburg Trade Fair. It will provide promotion for the 22nd shipbuilding, machinery & marine technology, international trade fair Hamburg from September 26th-29th. The 93t heavyweight is due to arrive at Hamburg Trade Fair on September 20 and will be lowered on to its stand. The prop is to be transported to the show straight from Waren on the Müritz in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, the production location of Mecklenburger Metallguss GmbH (MMG). According to its manager Manfred Urban, MMG covers about a quarter of global requirements and as much as 60% of demand for propellers weighing over 80t.
