COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers, a subsidiary of China Ocean Shipping Group(COSCO), COSCO Shipping Lines, has confirmed that the eight newbuild multipurpose cargo vessels entrusted to COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry(Dalian) Co. Ltd. will each feature a COMPAC seawater lubricated shaftline arrangement from Thordon Bearings.
CY Engineering, Thordon’s authorized distributor in China will supply and oversee the installation of a COMPAC open seawater lubricated propeller shaft system designed for shaft diameters of 553mm(21.7in).
The scope of supply, to be rolled out in two four-ship batches scheduled for August 2021 and December 2022, includes COMPAC propeller shaft bearings, shaft liners, ThorShield shaft coating, and Thordon’s Water Quality Package.
Since 2007, when COSCO first used water lubricated bearings on a pair of 5000-unit pure car/truck carriers(PCTC), CY Engineering has supplied Thordon’s award-winning system to more than 90 COSCO ships, including tankers, bulk carriers, semi-submersible, ro-ros and multi-purpose cargo ships.
In 2015, CY Engineering captured its largest COSCO contract to date. The order for 22 oil-free COMPAC shaftline systems also marked Thordon’s largest single order for a merchant vessel owner.
The award-winning COMPAC system is a high-performance seawater-lubricated bearing system primarily for “blue water” operating environments.
Specially formulated to reduce start up friction and eliminate stick-slip, an open seawater lubricated propeller shaft system offers considerable advantages to ship owners, not only in bearing wear life predictability and reliability, but they are also more economical to maintain, easier to install and are future compliant.
The COMPAC system, which typically includes bearings, shaft liners, Water Quality Package, ThorShield shaft coating and a forward seal, is guaranteed to meet Classification Society propeller shaft bearing wear specifications for 25 years.