Gear Oil News

Castrol, a global leader in lubricants, has launched Castrol BioTrans GB, a new lubricant for use in thrusters, some controllable pitch propeller (CPP) systems and deck machinery.Castrol BioTrans GB is an Environmentally Acceptable Lubricant (EAL) that complies with the current US Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) criteria.Castrol BioTrans GB is an extreme pressure (EP) and demulsifying gear oil range developed with fully saturated synthetic esters and a specially selected additive technology.

A pilot of a towing vessel on the Mississippi River left the helm unattended for several minutes, leading to a grounding near Thebes, Illinois, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.While the towing vessel City of Louisville was upbound on the Mississippi River pushing 11 barges on July 29, 2023, it ran aground in a charted shallow and rocky area. The grounding caused fractures to the vessel’s bottom plating underneath the engine room, leading to water flooding into the engine room, machinery and aft accommodation spaces.

Schottel ahs secured a contract to supply Polish MIECZNIK-class multi-role frigates with transverse thrusters.Each of the MIECZNIK-class multi-role frigates, being built by PGZ Stocznia Wojenna in Poland, will be fitted with a shock-enhanced STT 4 with an input power of 925 kW and a propeller diameter of 2.0 metres.The entire scope of supply of the STTs comprises a combined system with motor and frequency-driven soft starter, which represents a complete functional unit from a single source for the customer.Each STT will be equipped with Schottel LeaCon…

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility employees and ship’s force worked together to repair the anchor windlass on USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in about a third of the time it took previously.The anchor windlass is comprised of motors, gears and other parts responsible for the controlled lowering and raising of the chain and anchor, which can weigh up to 200,000 pounds on a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. It's a difficult job that requires much planning and complicated execution.According to Shawn Carragher and Zac Malone…

Excessive speed during an advanced harbor-assist maneuver led to a tugboat colliding with a containership in the Houston Ship Channel last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Wednesday.The tugboat George M and containership MSC Aquarius collided on April 14, 2022, while the tugboat was positioning for a ship-assist maneuver and the containership was transiting north in the Houston Ship Channel. No injuries were reported. About 1,000 gallons of gear oil were released from the damaged George M’s port propulsion unit.

German maritime propulsion specialist Schottel announced that its Schottel Rudder Eco-Peller (SRE) is set to be installed for the first time in a retrofit project.For the project, a pair of four-bladed SREs type SRE 340 L CP, with an input power of 750 kW each, will be featured in a double-ended ferry from the Norwegian ferry operator Torghatten Traf-ikkselskap.Significant for this project is the fact that no hull changes or major steel work will be necessary, al-lowing work to be carried out by a local shipyard…

SCHOTTEL has been awarded orders in the Norwegian fishery segment. Sefine Shipyard in Turkey has won the contract to build the largest live fish carrier in the world. Ordered by the Norwegian company Frøy Rederi, the Møre Maritime-designed vessel will provide space for 7,500 cubic meters of water in fishing tanks.The 83.20-meter-long and 30.90-meter-wide LFC is powered by an advanced diesel-electric propulsion system. The portion supplied by SCHOTTEL comprises two rudderpropellers type SRP 460 L CP (1…

Jan De Nul Group’s new Offshore Jack-Up Installation Vessel (JUV) Voltaire – built at COSCO Shipyard in Qidong, China, and set set to be delivered in 2022 – will be powered by propulsion solutions from SCHOTTEL. The four rudderpropellers and two transverse thrusters provided by SCHOTTEL are part of the vessel’s thruster setup which will ensure optimal propulsion efficiency as well as maximum maneuverability. With a payload of approximately 14,000 metric tons and a crane capacity of over 3…

Klüber Lubrication, a manufacturer of specialty lubricants, introduces industrial gear oils to their maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) portfolio.There is a current demand for the transmission of ever-growing power and torque in gears of all performance grades. This demand, combined with reduced gear size and weight, requires the application of mineral and synthetic high-performance lubricants.The MRO gear oils from Klüber Lubrication are designed to optimize gearbox performance across many industries…

Unappreciated, but heavily used by operators and closely regulated by the authorities, lubricants can also be a welcome part of your environmental and sustainability program. That’s right: lubricants.When it comes to the ideal operating scenario on any marine platform, the challenge of balancing sustainability with maximum operational performance and arriving at a healthy bottom line has never been more difficult. That said; the arguably perfect solution involves using on board consumable product(s) that contribute to sustainability, operational, and energy efficiency goals.

For the past few years, depressed commodity prices, stricter regulatory requirements and competition from onshore development at home and from other countries offering attractive offshore lease and royalty terms have had severe impacts on new exploration in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the tide appears to finally be turning.In August, Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 251 drew increased competition for offerings and $178 million in high bids, $53 million more than previous sale held in March.

When you face various deck equipment challenges, making the right lubricant selection can help lower labor costs, extend the life of the equipment, improve safety and more. The key is to identify deck equipment stresses, then apply the optimum lubricant solution. A trained lubricant specialist has the knowledge to relieve problems and significantly lower your total operating costs. That’s because selecting a specialty lubricant that can maximize the performance of a given deck application brings many benefits…

RSC Bio Solutions, a provider of high performance Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants (EALs) - hydraulic fluids, gear oils and greases - and industrial cleaners and solvents, said it has received OEM approvals for use in Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP) and side thrusters. The RSC EnviroLogic HF 68 HP was approved for use in Kawasaki Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP). RSC EnviroLogic HF 68 HP is a high performance, readily biodegradable, synthetic ISO 68 grade hydraulic fluid. Intended for use in severe conditions, including extreme high temperatures (250°F / 121°C), low temperatures (-40°F / -40°C) and high pressure (5000+ psi / 34…

Svitzer Americas’ newest vessels Svitzer Monte Cristi and Svitzer Catuan have been delivered by Turkish tug builder Sanmar. The boats, which will be operated in the Dominican Republic, are Ramparts 2400 SX class tugs, designed by Robert Allan Limited exclusively for Sanmar, and are known as the Bogaçay Class of which 30 have now been purchased by customers worldwide. The tugs measure 24.4m in length with a molded beam of 11.25m and an overall draft 5.7m. They are powered by pair of Caterpillar 3516 C main engines…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has accepted VapCor Cleanol HDW1 into the Safer Choice program. This is a related program to Designed for the Environment (DFE) an environmental program run by the EPA that helps consumers, businesses and purchasers find products that perform well and are safer for human health and the environment. This new program requires a performance criteria and also categorizes the various cleaners by industry and makes different requirements within the category. VapCor Cleanol HDW1, in the marine category, can now be considered an EPP (environmentally preferred product) as per VGP 2013. The additional…

Following a technical update, the SCHOTTEL LEACON system has now been certified by classification society DNV-GL as a leak-free sealing system for the oil-to-sea interface. This optimized version has already been integrated in the ongoing production. This means that SCHOTTEL drives with LEACON can still be operated in U.S. waters without the need to use bio-oils in compliance with the current VGP from EPA. SCHOTTEL LEACON is a service-proven system and has been used in its principal function since November 2009.

Klüber Lubrication, manufacturer of specialty lubricants, provides high-performance gear oils that are based on high-grade raw materials and advanced additives, enabling maximum efficiency in the lubrication of gear components. Klübersynth GEM 4 N are high-performance gear and multipurpose oils based on polyalphaolefin that provide outstanding protection against wear with resistance to micropitting, foaming, and residue formation. They are used for the lubrication of plain and rolling bearings, toothed couplings, chains, guideways, joints, spindles and pumps.

RSC Bio Solutions announced that its EnviroLogic 210EP readily biodegradable gear oil has been approved for use in Thrustmaster gearboxes and thrusters. With this approval, Thrustmaster has extended its existing relationship with RSC Bio Solutions, whose sustainable technologies are approved for use by Thrustmaster in oil and gas, workboat, deep water, marine and wind construction applications. RSC Bio Solutions describes EnviroLogic 210EP as a non-sheening, readily biodegradable synthetic ISO 100 grade gear oil that offers anti-wear and extreme-pressure properties, corrosion and rust protection and system cleanliness characteristics. It is approved for use in a variety of industrial applications where incidental exposure of oil to the environment is of concern.

Selection of gear oil for marine thrusters or a stern tube lubricant for use with propeller shaft bearings is often based on analyzing price/performance characteristics of the lubricant and its availability. Now with the implementation of the 2013 Vessel General Permit, this analysis must be expanded to include environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs) that meet the new EPA standards. To meet environmental requirements, EALs are blended from base oils other than mineral oil. They still meet the same lubricant objective – providing long-term equipment protection.

Overnight operations are certainly not unusual on America’s inland waterways, but that doesn’t make them any less hazardous. Onboard activities that seem so straightforward and customary in the light of day can take on a decidedly different feel after the sun sets and darkness envelopes the river and shrouds its banks. And, while navigational aids on the river and electronic equipment on board clearly assist nighttime vessel movements, many towboat and tug operators will tell you that fatigue, boredom and endless repetition in the sensory-deprived environment of darkness present very formidable challenges to even the most experienced rivermen.

When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the new Vessel General Permit (VGP) in December 2013, lubricant and fluid manufacturers were prepared to give vessel owners a number of environmentally acceptable lubricants (EAL) to work with. EAL usage is now essentially required for any application on vessels where incidental lubricant discharge could occur in the marine environment. Those applications include stern tubes, thrusters, stabilizers, CPP propellers, and wire rope and mechanical equipment immersed in water during normal operation.

James Fisher Renewables conducted an innovative trial of Ship-to-Turbine (STT), an oil change system set to significantly improve safety, efficiency and reduce down time in offshore wind turbine gearbox oil changes. James Fisher Renewables reports that it has successfully trialed an innovative oil transfer system for the direct extraction and refill of offshore wind gearbox oils from a conventional access vessel, a trial performed on an offshore wind farm off the Norfolk coast.

Deloach Marine Services, LLC, and A & Z Marine, LLC, announced the completion of the “M/V Z Sharon.” Z. David Deloach is the sole owner of Deloach, which provides charter towing service along the GIWW and A & Z, his shipyard located in Port Allen, LA. The vessel was originally built by Janoush Marine, Rosedale, MS, as the “FOSTI EDDIE E.” Deloach purchased the vessel in 1984, renamed it the “Bonnet Carre,” but later sold it to American Commercial Lines in 1988 who renamed it the “Donald C. Clark.” Deloach operated the vessel for ACL from 1988 to 2007, when he and his partner sold their fleet to Ingram Barge Company. He later repurchased the vessel and began a refurbishment. Deloach knows the hull as a proven and efficient design, with extreme maneuverability.