Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente shipyard in Italy is scheduled to take delivery of Thordon’s COMPAC open seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearing system for installation to the second ship in Oceania Cruises’ Allura class, which is scheduled to join the Miami-based company’s fleet in 2025.

The twin screw Oceania Allura will feature three COMPAC bearings per shaft to fit propeller shaft diameters of 510mm (20.7in). The same scope was supplied to the 67,000gt first in class Oceania Vista, which was delivered in May 2023, and is now operational in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America.

Seawater-lubricated 505mm (19.8in) COMPAC bearings were installed on the 65,000gt Oceania Marina and Oceania Riviera, which the shipyard delivered in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Stefano Resaz, sales manager at Pedrotec, Thordon’s authorized distributor in Italy, who has been working closely with Fincantieri for more than 25 years, said: “When these first two vessels were built, Oceania Cruises, a division of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, decided to build two new ships on the same propulsion platform. We are delighted they have chosen COMPAC once again.”

Thordon Bearings’ seawater-lubricated propeller shaft packages have also been specified for the new cruise ships the Italian builder is laying down for MSC Group’s luxury brand Explora Journeys. A COMPAC package has already been installed on Explora I (Hull 6319) and is specified for Explora II. Orders for the third and fourth vessels in the series are also anticipated.

Two years ago, the 170,400gt MSC Seashore was delivered from Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard with a COMPAC bearing system – this followed on from the similarly equipped MSC Seaside and MSC Seaview, delivered in 2017 and 2018 respectively. MSC Seashore was not only the largest cruise ship to be built in Italy but was hailed as one of the sector’s ‘greenest’ ships.

“Our close relationship with Fincantieri dates back to 1998 and reflects an ever-wider take-up of seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearings for cruise ships,” said Malcolm Barratt, Regional Manager – Southern Europe and Middle East, at Thordon.

“COMPAC is the natural choice for cruise owners,” he said. “It is less complicated than traditional oil-lubricated options to build and operate, there are fewer components, and there is less that can go wrong. It cuts operational and maintenance costs significantly. Several cruise ship operators have been operating with the same COMPAC propeller shaft bearings for more than twenty years!”

There are now more than 50 cruise ships around the world equipped with COMPAC. In addition to MSC vessels, these include orders for vessels under construction for Regent Seven Seas, and Viking Ocean Cruises.