Lubrica(on+Engineers+S.A.+85,+Serron+Street,+104+41+Athens,+Greece+T:++30+210+5152+040+F:++30+210+5152+044+M:++30+6944+291+240+www.leGgreece.gr+

LE+operates+under+an+ISO+9001+:2008Cer(fied+Quality+System.

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Maran+Canopus+On+Board+Inspec(on+of+Anchor+winch+windlasses+&+Mooring+wire+ropes+

Nov+2015+Port+of+Pachi+

Nicholas!P.!Kominos Chemical!Engineer!NTUA!Lubrica:on!Specialist

Lubrica:on!Engineers!S.A.!

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Company:!Maran!Tankers!Management!Inc!Vessel+Name:+Maran!Canopus!Vessel+type:!VLCC!Tanker!Inspec(on+Date:+November!12!2015!Applica(on+Inspected:+Anchor!Winch!Windlasses,!Mooring!Wire!Ropes!Inspectors:!G Nicholas!Kominos,!Lubrica:on!Engineers!SA,!Chemical!Engineers!NTUA,!Lubrica:on!Expert!G Bill!Gommers,!Lubrica:on!Engineers!Australia,!automa:c!wire!rope!lubrica:on!expert!Purpose+of+inspec(on:!To!inspect!applica:on!condi:on!as!well!as!lubricant!condi:on!

Report+

Anchor+Winch+Windlasses:+

Anchor!windlass!shaRs!were!closed,!therefore!it!was!not!possible!to!evaluate!shaRs’!condi:on!and!to!document!adequate!lubrica:on.!!

Nevertheless!excess!of!grease!was!monitored!coming!out!of!the!shaR/cover!clearances.!!

Unfortunately!this!by!itself!does!not!guarantee,!that!adequate!grease!film!is!also!present!on!the!shaR!and!cover,!as!seen!in!the!photo!below!(photo!taken!onboard!a!different!vessel).!

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!ShaRs!were!reported!that!were!lubricated!approximately!1!month!ago.!

Purged!grease!from!the!shaR!was!found!to!be!darker!in!colour,!compared!to!unused!sample!and!also!showed!obvious!signs!of!hardening,!most!probably!dew!to!loss!of!por:on!of!the!base!oil!inside!greases’!thickener,!as!a!result!of!water!wash!out.!

It!is!recommended!to!open!covers!and!visually!check!that!there!is!an!adequate!lubrica:on!film,!protec:ng!the!shaR!from!wear!and!rust.!

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Moving!to!the!windlasses’!gears,!there!were!found!to!have!heavy!amounts!of!surface!rust!and!oxida:on.!Lubricant!starva:on!was!obvious.!There!was!also!a!lot!of!contamina:on.!

Remained!grease!appeared!very!hard!and!most!probably!with!lack!of!base!oil!in!its!thickener.!

It!is!recommended!to!re\evaluate!current!lubrica:on!prac:ces!and!most!probably!increase!re\lubrica:on!frequency,!or/and!use!a!grease!with!be]er!water!proof!characteris:cs.!

One!par:cular!difficulty!of!this!applica:on,!is!re\lubrica:on!opera:on.!!There!is!a!small!hatch!opening!which!makes!grease!applica:on!difficult.!Grease!has!to!be!applied!on!both!tooth!load!faces.!

One!excellent!solu:on!to!this!applica:on!challenge,!is!the!use!of!Lubrica:on!Engineers’!SA!mobile!spray!grease!gun!kit,!which!applies!evenly!and!easily!via!an!air!spray!system,!grease!on!the!gears.!

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!Mooring+winch’s+wire+ropes+

Mooring!wire!ropes!were!found!mostly!with!mud\grease!heavy!contamina:on,!all!over!their!outer!layers.!Very!few!part!of!ropes!detected!with!lubricant!starva:on.!

Grease!has!again!lost!a!por:on!of!its!original!consistency,!due!to!water!wash!out!of!its!base!oil,!appeared!hardened!and!has!changed!in!colour.!

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!Surface!rust!appeared!on!the!ropes,!which!upon!rubbing!was!easily!cleaned,!revealing!beneath!that!the!galvanised!ropes!looked!to!be!in!good!condi:on.!

Some!ropes!were!reported!that!were!lubricated!2!months!ago!and!all!other!in!longer!:me!than!that.!

Vessels’!captain!reported!that!manual!re\lubrica:on!of!the!ropes,!involves!a!crew!team!of!4.!Vessel!is!now!equipped!with!the!Viper!automa:c!wire!rope!lubricator.!

We!have!already!recommended!the!add!on!use!of!the!wire!rope!cleaner!adapter,!in!order!to!clean!the!detected!heavy!and!hard!grease/mud!contaminants,!between!the!strands.!

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This!will!free!the!space!between!the!strands,!which!will!increase!grease!penetra:on!when!the!rope!moves!inside!Viper’s!seals.!

Wire!rope!re\lubrica:on!opera:on!with!the!Viper!unit!and!wire!rope!cleaner!adapter,!involves!only!one!crew!member.!Re\lubrica:on!:me!will!addi:onally!be!very!fast,!since!Viper!can!lubricate!up!to!2.000!meters!per!hour.!

It!is!recommended!to!evaluate!wire!ropes!for!sufficient!presence!of!grease,!on!a!monthly!basis.!It!is!also!recommend!to!take!photos!and!save!them!for!follow!up!and!comparison.!

Conclusions:+

\ Further!follow!up!is!needed!in!windlasses’!shaRs!\ Insufficient!lubricant!protec:on!on!windlasses’!gears.!Heavy!amounts!of!rust!and!contamina:on!detected.!It!is!advised!to!re\evaluate!re\lubrica:on!prac:ces!

\ Mooring!wire!ropes!appeared!overall!in!good!condi:on!\ There!was!a!lot!of!hard!mud\grease!mixture!on!the!strands!and!the!grease!appeared!discoloured!and!hardened.!!

\ Grease!although!present!on!wires,!not!seemed!suitable!for!further!use!in!several!ropes,!dew!to!contamina:on!from!sea!water!and!mud.!

\ It!is!recommended!that!the!ropes!be!cleaned!via!the!wire!rope!cleaner!adapter!and!Viper!unit!and!also!be!re\lubricated!with!fresh!new!grease.

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