Shafts News

Kongsberg Maritime has secured $73.3 million contract from Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding in China to supply range of equipment for a new fleet of 10 platform supply vessels (PSVs) being built for Greek shipowner Capital Offshore.Under the contract, Kongsberg Maritime will supply all propulsion, automation, and energy systems for the 95-metre vessels of MMC 897 CD design.The Kongsberg Maritime electrical system on these vessels will enable optimal operation through the Energy Storage System (ESS).

Representing a breakthrough in the evolution of a ship’s propeller shaft line, Canada’s Thordon Bearings has unveiled the Thordon-Blue Ocean Stern Space (T-BOSS), a new solution designed to meet the propeller shaft requirements of the sterntubeless ship design proposed by the Blue Ocean Alliance.The Blue Ocean Alliance is a consortium of industry partners – ABS, Thordon Bearings Inc, Wärtsilä, SDARI, and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) – that have collaborated…

Kongsberg Maritime has secured a contract to design and a equip a 10th hybrid chemical tanker for Danish operator Tärntank.The new Tärntank vessels will reduce carbon emissions using a combination of clean technologies.The wind-assist technology will be installed on the latest four vessels ordered, and this feature alone is expected to reduce emissions by up to 19%. The new vessels will have an Energy Efficiency Design Index close to 40% below the 2025 Phase 3 requirements.The 15…

Berg Propulsion has won a contract to deliver the hybrid propulsion solution for three wind-assisted Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) Ro-Ro vessels.Following delivery by China’s Wuchang Shipbuilding from 2026 onwards, the innovative vessels will carry Airbus A320 Family jetliner subassemblies from France to the final assembly line in the United States.The ships have been designed by Deltamarin with the aim of halving fuel burn and CO2 emissions in transatlantic operations by 2030…

Technology group Wärtsilä has secured a deal to supply engines, fuel gas supply system and thrusters for two new Ropax ferries being built for French operator La Méridionale, a subsidiary of CMA CGM.The vessels, which have been specifically designed to minimize emissions, are to be built at the China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Weihai), and will operate between Marseille and Corsica.For each ship, Wärtsilä will supply two 12-cylinder, one 10-cylinder and one 8-cylinder Wärtsilä 31DF engines.The two ferries will benefit from Wärtsilä’s NextDF technology…

Thordon Bearings won a contract to convert the rubber tailshaft bearings across an entire fleet of Panama-operating tugs, pilot vessels, and workboats to water-lubricated polymer bearings.The agreement with the unnamed operator follows the retrofitting of Thordon’s SXL tailshaft bearings to 12 of its twin-screw tugs last year during scheduled dry dockings.The remaining 32 vessels will now be converted in batches at planned maintenance intervals over the next four years.For the first batch of retrofit conversions…

Stena’s new Ro-Pax vessel, Ala’suinu, equipped with Wärtsilä propellers has received DNV’s Silent(E) notation, issued to vessels that demonstrate the ability to effectively reduce emissions of underwater radiated noise.Technology group Wärtsilä has designed and delivered controllable pitch propellers for Stena’s new Ro-Pax vessel, Ala’suinu, which has successfully completed sea trials.Following these sea trials, Ala’suinu became the first Ro-Pax vessel to fulfil the DNV Silent(E) notation…

Brunvoll has signed a contract with Vard for the delivery of a comprehensive propulsion and maneuvering system for Cyan Renewables' new Service Operation Vessel (SOV).The vessel will have the first azimuth propulsion thrusters from Brunvoll with an 8-degree tilted propeller and nozzle, for enhanced performance during dynamic positioning operations.The delivery for the new SOV consists of two azimuth propulsion thrusters, two retractable azimuth thrusters, a tunnel thruster, and…

Damen Naval has selected Kongsberg Maritime Sweden to deliver controllable pitch propellers and shaft lines for the four Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) frigates for the Netherlands and Belgium.As part of this contract, Kongsberg will supply four shipsets of its controllable pitch propeller systems and associated equipment including blades, hubcaps, hubs, and shaft lines.The four ASW frigates will replace the current Karel Doorman-class multi-purpose frigates. They will be deployed for a wide variety of tasks, with anti-submarine warfare as their main purpose.

Wärtsilä has introduced a new high-performance thruster and propulsion control solution, which is said to raise the level of offshore dynamic positioning for greater efficiency and operational performance of vessels.The company’s new high-performance thruster and propulsion control solution package utilizes a combination of Wärtsilä’s WST-E embedded electric steerable thruster and WST-R retractable thrusters, together with an updated remote propulsion control system featuring an enhanced user interface ProTouch…

30 years ago shaft generators with PTI capability kept container ships sailing at top speed. That purpose gone, PTI/PTO is making a new comeback in more cargo shipping segments, this time for reducing emissions.Retrofitting a shaft generator is not an insignificant undertaking. Around 50 tons of equipment needs to be installed into the engineroom through a hole in the hull. A new section of shaft is usually required.That a few shipowners are undertaking such projects - Klaveness Combination Carriers on the Ballard…

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.

Thordon Bearings and Wärtsilä have announced the formation of the Blue Ocean Alliance to develop and promote a stern tube-less ship concept.The Blue Ocean Alliance brings together Thordon Bearings, Wärtsilä, the School of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), naval architect SDARI (Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute CSSC) and ABS.The companies say that the concept of a ship design that does not require a…

Ascenz Marorka, a GTT Group company, announced that it has been granted a Type Approval certification for its ShaPoLi solution by the classification society Bureau Veritas.Designed to help shipowners and operators comply with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing ship carbon intensity by 40% by 2030, the solution monitors propeller shaft power and signals an alert in the wheelhouse if it exceeds the EEXI calculated maximum power. The system logs the periods where the limit was exceeded and enables crew to give comments.

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…

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…

Last month, a Hydrex diver team carried out an underwater stern tube seal repair on a ro-ro ship berthed in Algeciras, Spain.The ship was suffering from an oil leak, making an on-site repair necessary. Using a Hydrex flexible mobdock, the team was able to carry out the entire operation on-site and underwater, saving the owner an expensive and time-consuming trip to drydock.Once the operation was approved, all preparations were handled swiftly and the lightweight equipment was…

Finland-based marine technology group Wärtsilä will partner with Transworld Group to apply what it says are the most advanced decarbonization modeling capabilities to the bulk carriers sector of Orient Express lines of Dubai.Orient Exrpress is owned by Transworld Group and Managed by Transworld Ship Management (TWSM), one of India's premium private sector ship management firms. The project aims to provide decision-making support by simulating the impact of efficiency upgrade technologies on the vessel’s environmental performance.

The increased performance of the fast-responsive Schottel RudderPropeller Dynamic SRP-D was confirmed by external sources. Initial investigations into the effect of thruster response on DP positioning were carried out in cooperation with MARIN, based in the Netherlands, and Polish ship designer MMC. The results obtained demonstrated much-improved position accuracy and enhanced operability of the vessel.Further calculations made by DNV and simulations from a cooperation with VARD showed that the SRP-D greatly improves the vessel’s operational performance and environmental impact…

Finland's marine technology company Wärtsilä said Tuesday it had retrofitted an inline shaft generator system on the ‘Berge Toubkal’, a cape-size bulk carrier owned by Singapore-based Berge Bulk, in what it said was an industry first."This is the marine industry’s first-ever shaft generator retrofit, and its successful completion will improve the vessel’s Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) while reducing overall carbon footprint," Wärtsilä said."Shaft generator systems onboard ships are driven by the main engine to supply power to the mains, thus saving fuel and emissions.

ABB has secured a contract with the Chinese shipyard COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou) Co. Ltd., to equip 10 China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited container vessels with its permanent magnet shaft generator systems. Due for delivery by the end of 2025, the order comprises systems for six 14000TEU vessels and four 16000TEU vessels."The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is introducing new regulatory standards – the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) – which will come into force in January 2023.

NYK and MTI Co., Ltd. received approval from ClassNK for a new condition-based maintenance (CBM) method implemented on NYK-owned coal carrier Noshiro Maru. The certified CBM is a method for monitoring the condition of bearings of large marine diesel engines through temperature data, a method that was adopted in the "CBM Guidelines, Second Edition"4 issued by ClassNK in 2021.In addition, the Diesel Engine Main Bearing Condition Monitoring System, which visualizes bearing temperature data that can be obtained through sensors installed on the main bearings and ship operation data…

Peer-reviewed research by Thordon Bearings into the hydrodynamic lubrication efficiency of a ship’s propeller shaft bearing has found that the use of seawater-lubricated elastomeric polymer bearings reduces fuel consumption.The environmental and financial benefits of adopting a seawater-lubricated propeller shaft system are well documented, but this is the first indication that the arrangement reduces hydrodynamic resistance enough to improve fuel consumption, compared to a conventional…