Retrofit of Thordon bearings to bow visor of Tycho Brahe complies with comparable retrofit to bow visor of sibling ship Aurora (over)/
The bow doors of Tycho Brahe— among both battery-powered RO/RO ferryboats operated the 20-minute Helsing ør, Denmark-Helsingborg, Sweden path by ForSeas Ferries– are to be retrofitted with grease-free ThorPlas-Blue bearings from Thordon Bearings.
The choice complies with the success of the setup in 2016 of the Thordon bearings on the bow doors of sibling vessel Aurora, the very first of both 111-meter sibling ferryboats to be transformed to battery procedure by Sweden’s Oresund Drydocks (see earlier tale).
The Aurora retrofit was the very first setup of a Thordon self-lubricating birthing to the bow doors of a RO/RO ferryboat.
“Aurora and her sister ship Tycho Brahe are the first ferries of this size running on 100% battery power,” claims Christian Andersson, Senior Chief Engineer,Aurora “This is a huge sustainable benefit as we save about 23,000 tonnes of CO2, 13 tonnes of NOx and 5 tonnes of SOx from being emitted to the atmosphere each year. As a customer focused ferry operator striving for zero emissions, we are interested in any solution proven to reduce our environmental footprint.”
Tommy Holmgren, Sales Director at Thordon’s accredited representative, Duwel Sweden ABDOMINAL, presented Andersson to the Thordon item profile when he was functioning as a shipyard task supervisor.
“Through Tommy, I gained a very positive experience with the Thordon products and took my learnings with me when I joined the ForSea family. ThorPlas-Blue bushings are now installed on the bow visor of Aurora and will soon be retrofitted to Tycho Brahe,” claimsAndersson “We are very happy with the installation. We operate the 32 tonne bow doors 48 times a day. But we found with frequent opening and closing the bronze-type bushings seized and often cracked. We don’t have this problem with ThorPlas-Blue. We have a much better operational experience. We are now looking at Thordon’s water-lubricated and grease-free bearings for more applications in other vessels in the fleet.”
Since sustainability is just one of ForSea’s essential worths, a bearing that minimized the danger of contamination was a vital consider the decision-making procedure, claims Andersson.
“Environmental sustainability is a very important factor in meeting our commercial goals but from a technical perspective, we have found ThorPlas-Blue significantly extends the life of the bow visor’s bearing, reducing maintenance requirements and associated costs,” claims Andersson.
Since 2016, when Oresund Drydocks mounted the bearing, bow door integrity has actually boosted as well as Aurora off-hire time has actually lowered.”
“As a repair yard we find the Thordon material much easier to handle, easier to machine, and causes less wear and tear our machines and tools,” claims Mats Holst, Production Manager,Oresund Drydocks “The main difference we can see is that neither the shaft nor rotating parts show any wear when ThorPlas-Blue is installed, which saves the owner time and money during drydock repairs.”
While Oresund Drydocks does not yet define Thordon items as common, Holst claims that the shipyard does have a consignment of Thordon supply as well as has the ability to compute as well as device the birthing to the proper resistances.
“We are also in contact with Duwel Sweden which provides 24/7 support to the yard,” he keeps in mind.
“We do find that once a customer installs its first Thordon bearing, they tend to find other applications for the technology,” claims Duwel’sTommy Holmgren
