T-BOSS® provides shipbuilders access to cost and environmental benefits of seawater lubrication

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The Thordon-Blue Ocean Stern Space (T-BOSS®) is a revolutionary concept that brings shipbuilders the competitive edge to offer customers the cost and sustainability advantages of seawater lubrication.

Brought to market after nearly a decade of development, the innovative T-BOSS® design exploits modern design principles so that a new constituency of ship owners can secure the environmental and operating cost benefits of Thordon Bearings’ COMPAC seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearings. Industry data has highlighted the rising frequency of oil lubricated stern tube seal damages, emphasizing the operational vulnerabilities of conventional oil-lubricated systems, which T-BOSS® inherently avoids.

For shipbuilders, T-BOSS® offers reduced complexity and is less costly than a sealed propeller shaft system. It provides the shipbuilder with much greater design flexibility with increased engine room space and reduced shaftline length. Increased engine room space facilitates the installation of a shaft generator, which supports Green House Gas emissions reductions, lowers fuel costs, and unlocks future decarbonization pathways.

Compared to a traditional sealed oil-lubricated set-up, the groundbreaking T-BOSS® solution replaces a ship’s sterntube cooling tank with a dry chamber that gives Class surveyors or technicians access to the seawater-lubricated non-metallic bearing and seal from inside the vessel. Entered through an opening in the bulkhead and large enough to stand up in, the space means that inspections can take place afloat - so that drydocking for shaft withdrawal is simply not necessary.

T-BOSS® helps shipbuilders to help their customers remove the risk of fines related to sterntube oil pollution entirely. In addition, reduced bearing wear, minimised direct costs and loss of earnings due to drydocking and maintenance, improved EEDI ratings, lower fuel consumption - and potentially more cargo capacity due to a shorter shaft line – could save over US$1 million in through-life operational cost.

T-BOSS® has already received approval in principle (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), with the classification society granting its AiP to the CSSC-Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (CSSC-SDARI) for a sterntubeless ship concept.

Confirming that the conceptual engineering as proposed is feasible for the intended application, ABS awarded the AiP based on the use of Thordon’s COMPAC seawater- lubricated single aft bearing.

Both ABS and CSSC-SDARI – along with Thordon Bearings, Wärtsilä Shaft Line Solutions, and the National University of Athens – are partners in the consortium responsible for developing T-BOSS®. Together, the consortium members have conceived and realised a solution whose environmental advantages are equal to its financial rewards.

Industry stakeholders are also increasingly recognising T-BOSS® as commercially viable and ready for broad application. The solution has been nominated for the Maritime Innovation and Clean Shipping awards, while forward-thinking ship owners, builders, and designers are acknowledging the competitive advantage of simplified shaft line arrangements and the potential they create for the optimised use of space on board the vessel.

■ Contact: Thordon Bearings Inc. https://thordonbearings.com/