COSCO Confirms More Seawater Lubricated Shaft Arrangements

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.

“I think the success of this long-term cooperation is due to the high-quality products/systems and excellent after sales services provided. COSCO feels very satisfied with the COMPAC system and is leading the way in environmentally sustainable operations,” said Alex Li, CY Engineering’s Managing Director.

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.

Sam Williams, Thordon's Regional Manager for Asia, said: “This new order is indicative not only in the more environmentally focused seascape but also the shipowner’s commitment to sustainable operations.

“Chinese shipbuilders, like the COSCO Dalian Shipyard, are leading the way in ‘greening global trade’ by specifying competitively priced seawater lubricated shaftline arrangements.  China is now increasingly specifying quality products from European and North American OEMs. This is reflected in the quality of a new generation of Chinese-built ships.”

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.