Page 92: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2003)

People & Company News

Benjamin Vickers: 175 Years & Counting

One wonders if, when Benjamin

Randall Vickers went into business in 1828 as an agent selling oils and soaps, he had the prescience to see the ever growing need for specialized lubricants as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace. He didn't have an easy ride. But he did have the guts, acumen and integrity to build on his successes and overcome his setbacks. The business he handed down to his sons, and sons of sons, is today a highly focused organization with a respected range of marine lubri- cants widely used in sterntubes and thrusters. and an equally impressive range of specialized lubricants for the textile industry.

As early as 1887, before sail had final- ly given way to steam, Vickers realized

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SAE 30 that mineral oils significantly outper- formed vegetable oils for the lubrication of engines. Following studies of hot bearings on the main engines of ships in the Red Sea and Suez Canal, the compa- ny introduced its 'Non-Corrosive Engine

Oil', forerunner of the 'Neox' brand that lives on today. * N O *

The founder's son. Benjamin

Threlfall Vickers, was aboard the

Goole & Hull Towing Company's Tug

No 10 when the company's policy of 'walking the shop floor' next paid divi- dends. The tug used 'Neox' but. before

Benjamin's eyes, the skipper did some- thing very odd: he poured a quantity of the oil into the 'tail shaft' or. as we know it today, the sterntube. As every shipowner and marine engineer knows to this day. it is one thing to put lubricant into a sterntube and quite another to keep it there. The first move Vickers made, therefore, was to design the Stern

Tube Gland, forerunner of today's stern- tube seals. In 1901 the T.S.S. Ibex' was the first vessel commissioned with the gland installed and the birthright of today's 'Hydrox' specialized lubricants was in the making.

Although Vickers were principally involved in developing and blending specialized lubricants, the Stern Tube

Gland continued to form part of their business for over half a century. Some vessels were poorly constructed and

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