Thordon Bearings offers lifetime guarantee on its water lubricated propeller shaft bearing system

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 — Family owned Thordon Bearings, Inc., has been a leading manufacturer of high performance, oil and grease-free bearing systems, seals and other shaft line products for the global marine, clean power, pump and industrial markets for a long time. And while more than 90% of ships are still built with oil-lubricated bearings, Thordon believes its water-lubricated bearings offer shipowners a number of compelling OPEX and environmental advantages.

At SMM 2018 in Hamburg, Germany, Thordon Bearings announced it would begin offering a lifetime bearing wear-life guarantee on its award-winning COMPAC seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing system.

To date, the COMPAC bearing has been offered with a 15-year wear-life guarantee. Thordon, the global leader in seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearings, is guaranteeing that its tough polymer bearings will not need to be replaced throughout a vessel’s operational life.

The extended wear-life of a component critical to vessel performance is based on an extensive study of the performance data of the 550 plus COMPAC shaft bearings in operation on commercial vessels, dating back more than 25 years.

Thordon Bearings’ President and CEO, Terry McGowan, said, “After evaluating the performance and operational data of the ocean-going merchant vessels that operate COMPAC seawater lubricated bearings we found that if the environment was controlled – ensuring an adequate supply of clean water consistently delivered to the shaft bearings – the COMPAC bearing wear was minimal.  Environmental protection is of course high on the list of priorities for ship owners, but system reliability, reduced operational expenditure and maintenance are other key factors influencing the purchasing decision.”

At SMM 2018, we caught up with Craig Carter, Thordon Bearing’s Director of Marketing and Customer Service, to discuss the company’s COMPAC seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearing line and its recently announced new lifetime guarantee.

You can listen to the interview below by clicking the arrow.