Page 5: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 1974)

Sixth VLCC Delivered By Kockums To Salen

Features Roller Bearing Design For Shaft

The special new roller bearing construction for the propeller shaft on the Sea Swift developed by Kockums in coopera- tion with Svenska Kullagerfabriken and Salen is designed to stand the pressure of the heavy supertanker propeller.

Kockums Shipyard, Malmo, Sweden, has just announced delivery of the 256,050-dwt tanker

Sea Swift to the iSalen Shipping Companies of

Sweden.

The turbine-powered VLCC is the last of six tankers ordered by Salen and the 16th in the Kockums present series of twenty 255,000- tonners.

Built under special survey of Lloyd's Regis- ter of Shipping, the Sea Swift is a highly auto- mated ship, with complete electronic control and monitor systems to enable periods of unmanned engine room operation at sea. The ship is equipped with a sophisticated data- processing system, including autopilot, bridge control system and fouling calculator, which regulates navigation and the supply of steam to the main turbines.

The innovations on board the Sea Swift feature the introduction of a new roller bearing design for the propeller shaft, which was de- veloped by Kockums in cooperation with

Svenska Kullagerfabriken and the Salen Ship- ping Companies.

The new self-adjusting roller bearing- con- struction is designed to stand the pressure of the heavy supertanker propeller. It is com- posed of a spherical roller bearing with an ex- ternal diameter of 50.4 inches, weighing 1.5 tons, and of a shaft 34.0 inches in diameter.

Propeller shaft, bearings and seals have been designed in such a manner that their inspection and seal replacement can be accom- plished without drydocking.

This new design permits propeller and shaft to be installed in one unit from outside of the ship through the stern eye. Bearings are then fitted after the shaft is in position.

This new design permits propeller and shaft to be installed in a single unit from outside the ship through the stern eye. Bearings are then fitted after the shaft is in position.

Presently being tested in the newly built Kockums 255,- 000-tonner, the propeller shaft, bearings and seals can be inspected and the seals even replaced without dry- docking the ship. Two men can easily move along the bed plates to carry out these operations in the conical cavity which opens toward the after peak bulkhead.

During the ship's sea trials in the North

Sea, observations of cavitation and measure- ment of propeller-induced impulses on the hull were recorded for the Swedish Institute for

Technical Development. Measurements of wake distribution on the propulsion system will 'be continued in the forthcoming Kockums 255,000-dwt ship ordered by A/S Athene of

Norway.

Kockums specialists seek to determine more precise measurement for wake impact on pro- peller design, so as to weigh cavitation and vibration properties of the propeller. Estimates are that the new bearing design will prove superior and less sensitive to seawater pene- tration.

The observations of cavitation for the Swe- dish Institute were made with both still and

TV cameras, equipped with special lighting placed on both sides of the hull, just in front of the propeller. TV images were monitored during the trials and simultaneously recorded on video-tape for shoreside analysis.

Pressure impulses were measured at six points on the hull above the propeller with pressure transducers. Variations in pressure were then recorded on a 14-channel tape for later digital conversion and evaluation on land.

The results of these tests will 'be compared with corresponding data obtained from model experiments, so as to facilitate more accurate approximation of model experiment reliability.

Other vital Sea Swift data are as follows: gross registered tonnage, 125,389; overall length, 1,117.1 feet; length between perimeters, 1,080.0 feet; molded breadth, 170.0 feet; depth to main deck, 84.0 feet; draft, 65.9 feet, and pump capacity, 70,445.9 gallons per minute.

Propelling machinery used in the ship is of the Kockums/Stal-Laval type steam turbine, 32,000 shp at 85 rpm with speed of 15.9 knots.

Admiral Payne To Succeed

Admiral Brockett At Webb

RAdm. Charles N. Payne RAdm. William A. Brockett

John A. Livingston, chairman of the board of trustees of Webb Institute of Naval Archi- tecture, has announced that Rear Adm. Charles

N. Payne, USN (ret.), will succeed Rear Adm.

William A. Brockett as president of Webb when the latter retires next July.

Admiral Payne graduated from the U.S. Na- val Academy in 1942. After wartime service on the cruiser Columbia in the Pacific, he attended M.I.T. and received his advanced degree in naval architecture and marine engi- neering there in 1948. Designated an Engi- neering Duty Officer that same year, he sub- sequently had tours in Navy yards with the

Fleet and in the Bureau of Ships. He also- taught at the Naval Academy for three years and during that period authored a textbook on Naval Steam Propulsion Plants. In 1963, he became 'Comptroller of the Navy's Bureau of Ships when Admiral Brockett was Chief of that Bureau. In 1968, he assumed command of the Charleston (South Carolina) Naval

Shipyard and was promoted to the rank of

Rear Admiral the following year. In April 1971, Admiral Payne was assigned to Pasca- goula, Miss., as Supervisor of Shipbuilding,

Conversion and Repair, the position he cur- rently occupies.

In commenting on his retirement, Admiral

Brockett observed: "After eight rewarding years at Webb, I'm ready for a second and real retirement. Admiral Payne is an old friend and our careers have remarkable simi- larities. We both are graduates of the Naval

Academy and M.I.T., and both attended the

Advanced Management Program at Harvard

Business School. We both served on cruisers in the Pacific during World War II, taught at Annapolis, wrote engineering textbooks, served as Maintenance Officers in the Fleet and commanded Navy Yards. The culmination of the parallel courses is the presidency of this unique college, Webb Institute of Naval

Architecture. I'm delighted that Charlie Payne will be my successor."

Webb, an all-scholarship free-tuition insti- tution, specializing in naval architecture and marine engineering, is located in Glen Cove,

Long Island, N.Y.

February 1, 1974 7