Sealing Rings News

The world's first fireproof bulkhead seal for drive shafts on commercial, sea-going ships, megayachts and so-called special craft has come from Schornsheim in Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany). ProfiSeal, a company from the DEUTSCHE YACHTEN Working Group has now received type approval from the international classification society DNV GL for its innovation, which has been registered for patenting. After a successful water pressure test, the special seal also demonstrated its resistance to fire (A60) over 60 minutes at 945 degrees Celsius.

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.

Tognum CTO Dr. Ulrich Dohle opened the facility situated in the Friedrichshafen district of Kluftern near Lake Constance. Over the next few months, the MMC will be entirely responsible for supplying parts to Friedrichshafen manufacturing plants and will later extend its activities to take in other production facilities in the international network. Tognum, a provider of propulsion and power solutions, and its new partner Stute Logistics, the Kühne + Nagel subsidiary that is operating the warehouse, together invested around 50 million euros in the ultra-modern Materials Management Center.

SAFETY ALERT – Inflatable lifejackets equipped with Hammar Hydrostatic Inflator manufactured before 2006. This Safety Alert was recently distributed to shipping authorities and advertised in the trade press, boating magazines and digital media worldwide. The Hammar Hydrostatic Inflator is attached to the lifejacket with a sealing ring. In 2006, CM Hammar upgraded the sealing ring with new state of the art raw materials, to eliminate potential defects and increase long term durability. A small number of sealing rings manufactured before 2006 have suffered premature material degradation, most likely after being exposed to extreme environmental conditions.

Miami Diver has led the development of a unique universal steel habitat to efficiently carry out underwater repairs on almost any ship. In July 1999, a leading cruise ship operator approached Miami Diver Inc. with a damaged lip type stern seal on one of its vessels. The 73,912-gt ship was reporting sea water ingress from the starboard side shaft seal, and the cruise operator was looking for options to prevent an untimely and expensive unscheduled dry-docking. This was a unique situation in the underwater bonding of a lip-type shaft seal had reportedly never been accomplished before. Miami Diver immediately responded and called upon the network companies based in Vancouver, B.C.