December 15, 2020 By Waterways Journal
Ontario, Canada-based Thordon Bearings Inc. has announced that the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has replaced the rubber cutterhead bearings aboard the dredge Mahmoud Younis with a water-lubricated composite bearing from Thordon.
The retrofit, conducted at Port Said Shipyard’s drydock near where the Suez Canal meets the Mediterranean Sea, follows a similar installation aboard SCA’s largest dredge, the Mashhour, a year ago.
The Mahmoud Younis, named for SCA’s former chairman, is a 335-foot cutterhead suction dredge capable of dredging to a depth of 83 feet. The vessel was outfitted with the 23.6-inch Thordon composite bearing in August. The bearing was machined and finished by Nefertiti Marine, Thordon’s authorized distributor in Alexandria, Egypt. The bearing was then freeze-fitted to the Mahmoud Younis’ cutterhead during a scheduled drydocking.