Trelleborg bearings play vital role

Orkot TXMM and TLMM bearings were developed to meet the demands of the ever-changing markets and are currently used on Maersk Line’s 400m long Triple E class vessels, built by Daewoo Shipbuilding.

Barry Davies, general manager, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, said: “We embrace the design principles of Maersk and took on the challenge to deliver the bearings that are fundamental to the success of these ships.”

The synthetic composite bearing materials incorporate solid lubricants to provide strong wear resistance, virtually no swell in water and dimensional stability.

Operating with water and grease lubrication, they can also be operated dry, tolerating edge loadings and misalignment, even under high loads.

“The larger the ship, the bigger the size of the rudder and the more demanding it is to develop a bearing to optimize performance. Orkot bearings are proven in thousands of ships to give maintenance free operation over many years,” Mr Davies added.

The Triple E name is derived from the class’ three design principles: “Economy of scale, Energy efficient and Environmentally improved”.

They use a strategy known as slow steaming, which is expected to lower fuel consumption by 37% and CO2 emissions per container by 50% and are able to carry 2,500 more containers than the E class ships they replace.