Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Rubber Bearings News

Thordon’s SXL Bearings Installed on History-making Ferry Daleela

Thordon Bearings’ Egyptian distributor and integrated services provider Nefertiti Marine has commissioned the water lubricated Thordon SXL propeller shaft bearings installed aboard the 24,112gt ferry Daleela.The 1991-built, 400-passenger capacity RoPax, owned by El-Etehad International and chartered to Scandro Holdings, began operations on the revived Piraeus–Limassol route in June 2022 following an extensive refit in the floating dock operated by the Suez Shipyard in Egypt.Nefertiti Marine supplied a total of 14 Thordon SXL forward…

A Thordon SXL rudder bearing replaces a rubber bearing on an Atria Logistics UABL vessel (Photo: Thordon)

Atria Retrofits Its Paraná Push Boat Fleet with Thordon Bearings

One of South America’s leading push boat operators is on its way to completing a fleet-wide retrofit to Thordon’s water lubricated tailshaft and rudder bearings.In 2014, Argentinian owner Atria Logistics UABL, which operates a fleet of workboats on the Paraná River, installed Thordon’s RiverTough tailshaft bearings to its first push boat, the 135-foot-long Concepcion. In 2020, six more vessels in the company’s 26-strong fleet were converted.Egnard Bernal, Thordon Bearing’s Business Development Manager…

A ready-to-fit marine bearing (Image: Vesconite)

Vesconite Wins Over Rubber Propeller Bearing

While many have historically praised rubber and nitrile rubber marine bearings, Vesconite Bearings, the maker of the no-swell Vesconite Hilube polymer, has seen ship repairers increasingly turn to its product.Such was the case in June, when one New Zealand repairer, who has traditionally only used rubber bearings, requested Vesconite Hilube for two sailing yachts.The client requested two propeller shaft bearings for the first, and a single bearing for the second, informs Vesconite Bearings’ Eddie Swanepoel.Sized for 1¾ ” and 1½ ” shafts…

The 89m dredger Al Khatem, operated by NMDC (Photo courtesy of Thordon Bearings)

NMDC to Complete Fleet-Wide Thordon Conversion

The National Marine Dredging Company has replaced the rubber cutter shaft bearings on the 89m dredger Al Khatem, marking a step closer to the Abu Dhabi-based dredging company’s fleet-wide conversion to Thordon Bearings’ seawater lubricated Composite cutterhead bearings and cutterhead intermediate lineshaft bearings.The 1979-built Al Khatem is the latest heavy-duty cutter suction dredger NMDC has converted to the Thordon solution, following the success of similar conversions to the Al Sadr…

Photo: Vesconite

Shaft Vibration Eliminated With Vesconite Hilube

After replacing the all-rubber cutlass bearing of his new Jeanneau Sun Fast 35 Tide The Knot two times in seven years, Robert Metzen sought an alternative. A fellow sailor told him about his positive experience with Hilube as a rudder bearing. Shortly after contacting Leandro Panzini from Vesconite distributor VesArg, Metzen had a state-of-the-art polymer bearing installed.At 2,300 rpm, a sailboat engine will spin its propeller shaft a million times in less than eight hours. Cutlass bearing materials such as rubber and bronze wear prematurely.

Photo courtesy of Thordon Bearings

Alexis Marine To Retrofit Rivertough to Salt Lugger

Louisiana-based inland workboat operator Alexis Marine has awarded a supply contract to Thordon Bearings for the retrofitting of 6in diameter RiverTough bearings to MV Kristin Alexis, the 60ft twin-screw towboat built by Bollinger Shipyard in 1969.Both the vessel’s shafts will be withdrawn at New Orleans yard Bayou Fabricators and Machine Works, where the original rubber bearings will be replaced with Thordon’s RiverTough tailshaft bearings.The polymer bearing manufacturer will…

Installation of Thordon’s RiverTough water-lubricated bearing (Photo: Thordon Bearings)

Thordon to Eqip New Class of Towboat

Thordon Bearings, of Burlington, Ont., has received an order to supply four comprehensive shipsets of stern gear for a new class of towboat.The four boats are being built by U.S. shipyard Master Marine of Bayou La Batre, Ala., for Waterfront Services, based in of Cairo, Ill.. The new vessels have been designed to meet the requirements of Subchapter M, a set of federal rules recently introduced by the U.S. Coast Guard, relating to the inspection requirement for towboats, including seaworthiness standards and safety protocols.The 67ft x 28ft boats…

Photo: Thordon Bearings

Oil to Water: Impala Tugs Undergo Conversion

The first four of 15 Impala Terminals Colombia-operated tug/tow boats have been converted from oil to water-lubricated tailshaft bearings. Impala Zambrano, the first of 15 triple-screw and twin-screw push boats scheduled for oil-to-water conversion, was retrofitted in July 2015 with a Thordon RiverTough bearing and TG100 shaft seal combination. Three triple-screw and one twin-screw pusher vessels have since been converted and Thordon’s Colombian distributor Delta Marine and River Services will now work on the next vessels in the series.

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

Bearing System Sees No Wear After 20,000 Hours

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…

Photo courtesy of Thordon Bearings

20+ Year COMPAC Wear in Canadian Navy Patrol Frigates

Press release - The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is no stranger when it comes to using Thordon COMPAC propeller shaft bearings in its vessels. Over two decades ago, in May 1992, the RCN (then known as the Canadian Navy) back-fitted its lead frigate, HMCS Halifax, with Thordon COMPAC. The first of 12 new patrol frigates, the RCN selected Halifax as the exemplary ship to set a precedent for her sister ships and represented what the RCN then deemed to be “the most advanced warship in the world”.