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Shaft Systems News

05 Sep 2023

ClassNK Amends Rules for Seawater-lubricated Shafts

(Image: Thordon Bearings)

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.The announcement brings ClassNK’s requirements in line with those of other large class societies…

29 Aug 2018

Lomar's Super-Eco Boxships Mark Breakthrough for Thordon Bearings

Photo: Thordon Bearings

Delaware Trader, the first of two 2,700TEU newbuild containerships that China’s Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard is delivering to Lomar Shipping this year, has been fitted with a seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing system from Thordon Bearings.The vessel represents another breakthrough for Thordon Bearings’ COMPAC seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing system in the European-owned containership segment.London-headquartered Lomar Shipping, a privately-owned ship owning and management company…

11 Oct 2017

OTI Installs Thordon's Largest TG100 Seal

Photo: Thordon Bearings

Offshore Towing Inc (OTI) has completed the refurbishment of its 1974-built 9000hp-class tug Zion Falgout at the Conrad Deepwater shipyard, in Morgan City, La. The milestone project involved the retrofitting of TG100 seals in what marks OTI’s first mechanical shaft seal installation and the largest diameter TG100 series seals ever supplied by Thordon Bearings. An 11.75in (298mm) diameter seal was installed to each propeller shaft of the 66.88t bollard pull twin-screw workhorse.

30 May 2017

Tropical Opts for Seawater Lubricated Shaft Package

Image: Thordon Bearings

Thordon Bearings’ Jacksonville-based distributor Coppedge Marine has secured an order with Tropical Shipping for the COMPAC seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing system. The COMPAC systems destined for two 300TEU box ships under construction in China, at the Guangzhou Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard, will represent a first reference for COMPAC with this ship owner. “Tropical Shipping is a long-standing customer to whom we have supplied various Thordon equipment over the years,” said Ed Coppedge, Vice-President, Coppedge Marine.

23 Aug 2016

Pods Versus Water Lubricated Props

Image: Thordon Bearings

Thordon Bearings has called on the marine industry to investigate the characteristics of both conventional seawater-lubricated propeller shaft systems and podded propulsion arrangements in order to provide shipowners with a better understanding of the two very different propulsion configurations. In a recently published White Paper, the Canadian manufacturer of the COMPAC seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearing system believes there is a great opportunity for independent comparative data so that cruise ship operators, in particular, can make more informed procurement decisions.

22 Jan 2016

New DNV GL Notations for Water-lubricated Tail Shafts

Image of a stern tube (courtesy of Svenska Bearing)

Two new tail shaft monitoring class notations from DNV GL offer ship owners and operators the possibility of unlimited intervals between tail shaft withdrawal surveys for water-lubricated systems. With these two voluntary class notations, TMON (closed loop water) and TMON (open loop water), DNV GL becomes the first classification society to use a condition-monitoring based survey process that eliminates the requirement for tail shaft withdrawal surveys at predetermined intervals.

18 Jan 2016

Bearing System Sees No Wear After 20,000 Hours

Inland Barge Services’ push boat Ramona serves the communities along Alaska’s Yukon River (courtesy of Inland Barge Service Inc)

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, according tot the manufacturer. The performance of the RiverTough bearings in waters renowned for their high content of gritty glacial silt came to light when the 16-meter workboat’s cracked struts underwent repair in dry-dock. Charles Hnilicka…

04 Dec 2015

CENTA Antriebe Kirschey GmbH, Christie & Grey to Collaborate

The management teams of CENTA Antriebe Kirschey GmbH and Christie & Grey Limited announce a strategic global sales cooperation between their companies. The agreement allows the two companies to join forces to engineer and strategically supply the industry’s premium “quiet drive” solutions - combining soft mounting systems, flexible couplings, and intermediate drive shaft systems. As a pioneer in innovation since 1914, Christie & Grey Limited manufactures durable and highly efficient vibration, noise, and shock control solutions for worldwide marine, industrial, and commercial applications. For over 100 years, Christie & Grey has been a leader in designing and building engineered and customized solutions.

04 Dec 2015

Cooperation Yields 'Quiet Drive' Solutions

The management teams of CENTA Antriebe Kirschey GmbH and Christie & Grey Limited have announced a strategic global sales cooperation. The agreement allows the two companies to join forces to engineer and strategically supply “quiet drive” solutions - combining soft mounting systems, flexible couplings, and intermediate drive shaft systems. Christie & Grey Limited manufactures engineered and customized vibration, noise and shock control solutions for worldwide marine, industrial, and commercial applications, while CENTA Antriebe manufactures torsional coupling and drive shaft systems, offering solutions to the marine, industrial, rail, and energy industries.

24 Nov 2015

Thordon Wins Environmental Award

Thordon Bearings’ George Morrison was presented with the Tanker Shipping & Trade Environmental Award for the COMPAC system (Photo: Thordon Bearings)

COMPAC, Thordon Bearings’ seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing system, won the Tanker Shipping & Trade Environment Award following a verdict that the system allows shipowners to cost-effectively comply with stringent marine pollution rules. Dr. Karen Purnell, the Managing Director of the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF), who sat on the award judging panel alongside representatives from INTERTANKO, IACS, UK MCA and Scorpio Tankers, said, “It is a…

23 Dec 2013

Seatorque Boost for Brazil’s Biggest Superyacht

Brazilian superyacht builder MCP Yachts credited Seatorque Control Systems for contributing to the outstanding performance of its latest launch – the Hemisphere 140 Raffaella II. Incorporating Seatorque’s enclosed drive shaft system, the 43m aluminum vessel, powered by twin Caterpillar C32 1825 HP engines, achieved a top cruising speed of 22 knots during sea trials with an 85% load and 167 metric tons displacement, said MCP president Manoel Chaves. The vessel features a pair M3-400 single-piece Seatorque shaft systems, each 22 ft. long, accommodating the vessel’s four-inch diameter shafts.

11 Dec 2013

Don’t Forget: Seawater is a Free EAL

Typical netting and rope around rotating shaft damages aft seal.

If your vessel is trading in U.S. waters, you need to be aware of the new oil to sea interface law that comes into effect on Dec. 19, 2013. According to the new U.S. Environment Protection Agency Vessel General Permit (VGP), all vessels built on or after Dec. 19, 2013, must use an environmentally acceptable lubricant (EAL) in all oil to sea interfaces. For all vessels built before this date, unless technically not feasible, ship owners must use an EAL in all oil to sea interfaces. Additional information on the EPA’s VGP can be found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/vessels/vgpermit.cfm#final.

17 Oct 2013

Seatorque Boosts Brazilian Superyacht Performance

Designed for transoceanic voyages, The MCP Hemisphere 140 Raffaella II is the largest yacht built in Brazil to date and the largest aluminum yacht ever constructed in South America.

Brazilian superyacht builder MCP Yachts has credited Seatorque Control Systems for contributing to the outstanding performance of its latest launch – the Hemisphere 140 Raffaella II. Incorporating Seatorque’s unique enclosed drive shaft system, the 43-meter aluminum vessel, powered by twin Caterpillar C32 1825 HP engines, achieved a top cruising speed of 22 knots during sea trials with an 85 percent load and 167 metric tons displacement, reported MCP president Manoel Chaves. The vessel features a pair M3-400 single-piece Seatorque shaft systems…

29 Jul 2013

50 Years of Schottel Controllable Pitch Propellers

State of the art SCHOTTEL Controllable Pitch Propeller

Controllable-pitch propellers have been developed and produced on the Baltic coast of Germany since 1962 – initially in Rostock, and then in Wismar from 1964. The first units were manufactured for 86 freezer-trawlers of type Tropik for the Soviet Union. Four further types were produced for GDR fishery vessels. The first years of controllable-pitch propeller production in Wismar centered on systems with a power rating of 1,930 kW for 199 freezer-trawlers of type Atlantik. A total of 230 controllable-pitch propeller systems were delivered up to the end of 1969.

08 Feb 2001

Seven Seas Voyager Will Boast Dolphin Podded Propellers

Seven Seas Voyager, the new 50,000-gt cruise ship under construction at T. Mariotti Shipyard in Genoa, Italy for Radisson Seven Seas, will be among the first ships to house the new Dolphin podded propulsion system jointly developed by STN Atlas Marine Electronics and John Crane-Lips. The vessel, which is scheduled for a 2003 delivery will boast podded propulsors delivering 2 x 7,000 kW at 170 rpm. Main features include integration of a powerful electric drive into a hydro-dynamically optimized pod below ship, resulting in a directly-driven propeller. Extensive CFD analyses and model tank tests have led to the development of a pod shape with enhanced efficiency and maneuvering characteristics.

10 Jan 2005

Propulsion Notes

Wärtsilä has decided to cooperate with MTS within the marine e-business market and has through the MTS infrastructure integrated its Spares Online service. Spares Online gives ship owners/operators full control of their parts ordering and delivery process directly in their existing purchasing system. Spares Online keeps track of all ship owners / operators installations and provides an updated view of the equipment installed in their plant. GE Transportation's marine gas turbine business has launched a program to obtain American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) certification, to the Steel Vessel and the new Naval Vessel Rules, for its LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine. GE plans to certify the LM6000 at a power level greater than 36 MW based on U.S. Navy standard day conditions (100oF).

18 Apr 2001

Propulsion Report

On February 14, the world's largest high-speed ferry catamaran Stena Discovery took off from Belfast, after a planned drydocking, and about one hour out at sea on the captain's command the waterjet control was switched over to steering by a retrofitted Humphree Interceptor Steering System. While the interceptors engaged and provided the means for directional control of the vessel, the steering buckets of the four Kamewa 160 SII waterjets, in total absorbing a power of 68.5 MW, automatically returned to their neutral, or boost position, allowing all waterjet thrust to be vectored forward for maximum thrust, and eliminating the waterjet bucket drag.

02 Apr 2003

Stork Kwant's Launches New Products

Stork Kwant creates nautical instrumentation and control systems — with products ranging from rotating and speed control units (RSCU), control units for pitch and/or rpm and rudder angle indicators — for seagoing vessels, such as ferries, cruise liners, tug boats and dredgers, as well as military vessels. Stork's integrated bridge system (IBS), control panels and other systems are found on a variety of ships worldwide, and both Norwegian Star and Norwegian Dawn equipped with the latest developed Stork Kwant control units of the type RSCU Mark-3 Star. These units transmit the signals of speed and azimuth to the ABB Azipods, and for each operating position on the bridge, the control units RSCU Mark-3 Star have been installed.