Thordon Bearings News

Thordon Bearings has opened a new manufacturing facility as part of its strategic response to robust growth across all business segments and rising demand for its sustainable bearings and seals.The third plant provides ample additional space for Thordon to manufacture complementary non-bearing equipment, boost production output, minimize lead times and develop future products.Located at 3180 Mainway, Burlington, just steps from Thordon’s head office at 3225 Mainway, Plant 3 will…

An evaluation study based on reference data from a Suezmax crude oil tanker has demonstrated the benefits of using Thordon Bearings’ T-BOSS shaftline solution instead of a conventional oil lubricated sterntube system.The study assessed the CAPEX for a sterntubeless T-BOSS (Thordon - Blue Ocean Stern Space) system installed on a 274m (899ft.)-long tanker, assuming a shaft diameter of 670mm (26”) as the baseline. The study established that the T-BOSS provides benefits for ship designers and shipbuilders…

South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean and Canadian marine bearing manufacturer Thordon Bearings have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore cooperation on Canada’s submarine procurement program and other naval projects.The agreement focuses on the Canadian Patrol Submarine Program, one of the largest conventional submarine procurement programs currently planned, under which Hanwha Ocean has been selected as one of two qualified suppliers by the Canadian government.Hanwha Ocean…

Thordon Bearings has announced two significant appointments which reinforce its commitment to meet growing demand for high performance, pollution-free seawater-lubricated bearings and seals in commercial shipping.Anthony Hamilton has been appointed VP of Engineering and Product Development of Thomson-Gordon Group (TGG), the parent company of Thordon Bearings, with a mission to leverage group-wide capabilities in growing its merchant marine business.Based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, Hamilton has led TGG’s engineering and new product development as Technical Director since 2021.

Thordon Bearings Inc. has partnered with the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) to launch the Thordon Bearings Graduate Scholarship, an annual award that will support exceptional postgraduate students developing solutions to reduce the marine industry’s environmental footprint.Made possible through a significant contribution from Thordon founder George A. “Sandy” Thomson, the scholarship is intended to inspire the design of greener, cleaner, and more efficient vessels.

Thordon Bearings, a leader in high-performance polymer bearing systems, has steadily carved out a niche in the global marine industry with its eco-friendly water-lubricated bearings. Unlike traditional oil or grease-based bearings, Thordon’s systems operate entirely on water, eliminating the risk of harmful pollution in marine environments. Over the years, the company has expanded its reach, offering substantial advantages to the commercial shipping, naval, and workboat markets…

Thordon Bearings Inc., a leader in water-lubricated and grease-free bearing solutions, has announced the appointment of Progreen as its exclusive distributor for Azerbaijan.The formal arrangement strengthens Thordon's strategic presence across the Caspian region and marks another important step in delivering its high performance bearing and seal solutions to key sectors including marine, hydro power, and industrial markets. Progreen, a growing engineering services company led by brothers Ravil and Akhad Saidov…

Thordon Bearings has seen its RiverTough tailshaft bearing solution surpass 500 installations in the workboat sector.Primarily a retrofit solution but also increasingly specified for newbuilds, RiverTough is designed for coastal and inland waterways, where conditions are typically muddy and abrasive. The solution, applied in combination with hard-coated nickel-chrome-boron (NiCrB) Thordon shaft sleeves, has been verified as outlasting rubber bearings by a factor of two or more in the harshest operating environments.

Thordon Bearings, a leader in environmentally safe, high-performance shaft bearing and seal systems, has welcomed Denmark’s damZgard Mechanics to its network of authorized distributors.With a reputation as a leading supplier of mechanical engineering solutions to Denmark’s maritime industries, damZgard Mechanics will be responsible for facilitating existing and new maritime customer requirements and developing new business opportunities in other markets outside of marine.Home to some of world’s leading shipowners…

Thordon Bearings has appointed Axioma servisas as its sales, service and distribution lead for Lithuania as part of its strategy to penetrate new and emergent markets.Vilnius-headquartered Axioma servisas, which has been servicing, maintaining, installing and commissioning technology solutions for companies across the Baltic’s industrial sectors for more than two decades, has been tasked with expanding Thordon’ presence across the country.Axioma servisas officially joined Thordon’s authorized distributor network on January 1, 2025.

Thordon Bearings has delivered COMPAC water-lubricated propeller shaft and SXL rudder bearings to replace oil- and grease- lubricated bearings onboard McKeil Marine’s bulk carrier Northern Venture as part of a major refurbishment project.Established in 1956, Canada-based McKeil Marine provides marine transportation along the St. Lawrence Seaway, the East Coast, and Canadian Arctic with its diversified fleet of tugs, barges, workboats and vessels, including bunkers, cement carriers, and tankers.The shipowner acquired the 155m (508.5ft), 19,651dwt Northern Venture in 2022.

Thordon Bearings has completed the delivery and installation of propeller shaft and rudder bearings to a series of environmentally advanced high-speed ferries under construction for Italian operator Liberty Lines.San Sebastian-based Echetalde, Thordon’s authorized distributor in Spain, delivered 18 seawater-lubricated COMPAC propeller shaft bearings and nine grease-free SXL rudder bearings to Spain’s Astilleros Armon for installation to nine hybrid ferries scheduled for delivery…

Thordon Bearings has unveiled a new wireless propeller shaft bearing wear measurement system, marking a significant advancement in hull and propeller shaft condition monitoring.Developed in partnership with CSignum, a UK-based underwater communications specialist, Thordon’s Bearing Condition Monitoring – Wireless (BCM-W) system adopts patented electromagnetic field signaling (EMFS) technology to transfer data from underwater sensors to monitors positioned above the waterline.The…

Bronze bearings in the stern roller of the Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) Vessel ES Kestrel have been replaced with grease-free SXL bearings from Thordon Bearings while the vessel remained afloat and operational.The replacement was undertaken in May 2024 by Thordon’s Dubai-based distributor Ocean Power International (OPI) for the AHTS owner Echo Cargo & Shipping of U.A.E.While typically checked during routine drydocking, the vessel’s stern roller was experiencing turning issues during operation.

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…

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…

Thordon Bearings, the pioneer in water-lubricated bearings, secured a new order for a rudder bearing that was fitted to a 77.1m (253ft) research ship that frequently operates in ecologically sensitive marine environments.The 38-year-old Ocean Endeavour, operated by the UK’s Gardline, a multi-disciplinary marine survey company which operates a fleet of 13 multi-role survey ships, was recently fitted with Thordon’s SXL rudder bearing at UK Docks Marine Services’ Teesside drydock.Bruntons Propellers…

It might be easy to blame EALs, but the ongoing causes of stern tube damage are varied, and possibly declining.Environmentally Acceptable lubricants (EALs) gained market traction with the introduction of US VGP regulations in 2013. Since then, DNV has observed two major trends. The first, starting in 2013 was early life damage, either during sea trials or within the first five years of operation, where aft stern tube bearings typically failed under extreme load conditions. Then from around 2018…

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.

Canada-headquartered water-lubricated and grease-free seals and bearings company Thordon Bearings has appointed propeller manufacturer Bruntons Propellers as its new distributor for the U.K. and Ireland region.The propeller manufacturer will market, supply and service Thordon’s entire marine portfolio of propeller shaft bearings and seals. There is also provision for Bruntons to promote and service Thordon’s products in other market segments.Neil McDonald, Thordon Bearings’ Regional Manager…

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…

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…

When a 9,280hp workboat returned to service following extensive repairs at the James Marine Paducah River Service yard in Kentucky, U.S.A., it marked the first application of Thordon’s new seal-embedded bearing to an articulating rudder, Thordon Bearings said Monday. Articulating rudders are unlike conventional rudders and can be more costly to repair when things go wrong. They are more susceptible to wear and tear, due to the higher operating pressures and abrasives, and as a result…