Page 84: of Marine News Magazine (November 2016)

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South American River Tugboats Need

Robust Rudder Bushings

Some 20 tug boats on the Parana River, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, have been equipped with Vesconite rudder bushings.

n the challenging waters of South American rivers, tug- Paraguay (a Louis Dreyfus division), Cargill and Naviera boat owners began ordering Vesconite’s proprietary ther- Chaco (an ADM division).

moplastic rudder bushings starting in 2014. Convinced It is a particularly important market for VesArg since riv-

I that the material – which is wear resistant, self-lubricating, er waterways are important arteries via which large cities in environmentally-friendly, requires no grease, and easy to South America are linked together and each of these tow- machine and ? t – was more suitable than the bronze that boats could have four, six or eight rudders and two, three has traditionally been used in the application, many ? rms or four propellers. Having introduced the rudder bushings have permanently made the change. Today, that move is to tug boat owners on the Parana River, the intention is paying dividends. to introduce the product to operators on the waterway in

These companies include large South American mining Colombia. “We are currently testing the product in Co- and agriculture companies, which own their own barges lombia, which has a smaller water highway and usually has and transport their own cargo. “The Parana River is one smaller boats operating on it,” said Panzini, adding, “We of the large water highways in South America,” Leandro also intend to introduce Vesconite propeller shaft bushings

Panzini of VesArg, the Argentinian distributor of Vesconite to the South American river-transport market.” products told MarineNews last month. He adds, “Tow- boats push barges on the inland waterway, which can be DIFFICULT CONDITIONS, APPROPRIATE SOLUTIONS tough and abrasive on boats.” The South American rivers in which the tugboats oper-

Vesconite and Panzini both hope that there will be a sig- ate tend to be wide and deep, and not dissimilar to the ni? cant rudder bushings market in the area in the near Mississippi River in the United States. The rivers also tend future, as many ? eets upgrade their equipment. Already, to have signi? cant quantities of suspended debris and though, local South American customers include promi- sand, which makes the water highly abrasive, and results nent local operators such as Interbarge, Ultrapetrol, Lógico in rudder bushings having to be replaced more frequently than they would be on traditional boats. “This set of con- ditions makes Vesconite bushings particularly attractive, since they are exceptionally hard wearing,” says Panzini.

The Colombian waterway in which the bushings are be- ing tested currently tend to be even more abrasive than the

Parana River, and successful testing of the bushings on this

River will, says Panzini, demonstrate that Vesconite is able to cope in the most uncompromising of environments.

VESCONITE RUDDER BEARINGS

Vesconite is an internally-lubricated bearing material that is environmentally friendly. It is designed for low wear and minimal maintenance. It is also dimensionally stable, with negligible water swell and a low thermal expansion rate, and

November 2016 84 MN