POWER & PROPULSION

Shoreham Port Authority sings the praises of Twin Disc marine gears

9 years ago

Shoreham Port Authority has reported over three decades of continuous use from its MG514 marine gears, which were installed on-board their vessel the ‘Aduri’ in 1984.

'Adurni' has been operating out of Shoreham Port since its build by Delta Shipyard in 1984

The Adurni, a category 3 workboat, owned by Shoreham Port Authority, has been operating out of Shoreham Port since its build by Delta Shipyard in 1984. The 720hp, 16 metre vessel provides vital towing and bed levelling services in the harbours and seas surrounding West Sussex, along with offering both surveying and equipment deployment assignments.

The diversity of services offered by the Adurni means that reliability is key – keeping her at sea and at work, whilst providing smooth and reliable operations for Shoreham Port Authority. Choosing the Twin Disc MG514 marine gearbox at build ensured longevity of service for the hard working vessel, with over 32 years to date use from the originally installed gears.

The reliability Shoreham have seen from Twin Disc over the past three decades has made Twin Disc gears the obvious choice for their new tug which is due to join their fleet in July 2018. The new vessel is currently under construction with Macduff Shipyard and will feature 2 x MGX-516 Quick Shift gear boxes and two Doosan V158 engines.

Looking to increase their overall horse power, The MGX-516 gears selected for the new vessel offer a maximum continuous duty of 447kW (600hp) @1800 RPM along with smooth slow speed, precision shifting and faster, smoother clutch engagement. The Quick Shift gear box achieves this by utilising a sequenced engagement that operates automatically by design and does not need any adjustment. In the first stage of the engagement it makes up to 80% of the maximum oil pressure available to 20% of the clutch piston area, where conventional clutches have to get filled completely at four to five times lower pressure. This allows the clutch to fill much faster, thereby reducing the shift response time dramatically.

On-board the new Shoreham vessel, the MGX-516 gears will be coupled with the Twin Disc EC300 Electronic controls which, Twin Disc says, provide unparalleled boat control in all conditions.

The MGX-516 as standard is supplied with vertical offset, cast iron housing, SAE housing no.1, Electric GP-valve with manual override, EC050 profile module – interface for engagement signals and an oil strainer and filter.

By Jake Frith