ILMA Compoundings March 2018 - 12

INDUSTRY RUNDOWN

Performance Issues with EALs
Troubling for Ship Owners
To help preserve the health of U.S. waters, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began requiring
operators of vessels covered under the Vessel General
Permit (VGP) to switch from mineral oils to what it calls
environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs). EALs
are lubricants that have been demonstrated to meet
standards for biodegradability, toxicity and bioaccumulation potential that minimize adverse consequences in
the aquatic environment.
Many EALs are performing as well as traditional mineral
oils (and some perform much better, in terms of thermal/
oxidation resistance and operating life) in "oil-to-sea" applications throughout the ship. However, an area that remains
of particular concern for ship owners is the quality of EALs
available for use in the ship's stern tube and thrusters.

MARCH 2018

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Phil Cumberlidge, a marine specialist at PANOLIN International, said that he has been hearing of instances of EALs
that some companies are marketing as lasting five years, or
one dry docking cycle, only lasting 2½ years. Not only can
this situation be dangerous, but it also is expensive to pull a
ship out of service early to replace the oil and seals. Anytime
a lubricant does not perform as it should, Cumberlidge said,
"crews end up spending time and money monitoring the
condition of their lubricants and replacing them rather than
having a maintenance-free situation."
Classification society DNV GL is aware of similar rumors
but hesitates to make any assumptions without empirical
data. Øystein Alnes, principal engineer, Maritime Transport at DNV GL, said, "We have very little facts on how
these oils are performing. There is a lot of uncertainty in
the industry at this moment related to EALs, and it is very
important to get some independent studies comparing different EALs with more traditional mineral oils."
EALs might not be entirely at fault, either. Oddvar Deinboll, head of section, Machinery at DNV GL, said that it is
difficult to differentiate or extract the consequences of introducing EALs because of a significant number of changes in
vessel operation and design as well as changes in the design
of propulsion systems.
To that end, DNV GL is assisting ship owners through
the launch of a new joint development project in cooperation with marine insurers The Swedish Club, Norwegian
Hull Club, Gard and Skuld to test the potential influence of
EALs on failures in stern tube bearings. DNV GL will oversee detailed laboratory testing of EALs by Leonardo Testing
Services Ltd. at the University of Sheffield, U.K.
Deinboll also sees the possibility that, "if there is a concern
in the industry among owners and shipyards that the use of
EALs may jeopardize the operation of the vessel, it may also
be expected that the use of water-lubricated bearings, for
instance, may come up as a more relevant alternative."
The current VGP is set to expire in December of this
year and, according to a representative of the EPA, a draft
of the new VGP will be available for review and comments
sometime this spring.

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ILMA Compoundings March 2018

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