Dredger keeps its bearings

摘要

Water Lubricated Thordon Composite cutterhead shaft bearings have apparently performed well for nine years on one of the largest cutter suction dredgers in the world -Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME)'s D'Artagnan. The vessel had a major drydocking at Drydocks World-Dubai in February 2014 where the shaft was removed, and bearings and shaft inspected. Originally built in 2005, the D'Artagnan self-propelled cutter suction dredger is involved in very heavy rock-breaking as it has cutting power for operations in rock soils of 6,000kW. "The bearings have shown a positive wear life compared to grease lubricated metallic bearings," says Frederik Mertens, assistant vessel manager at DEME.