WHAT IS STERN TUBE?

 THE STERN TUBE IS A HOLLOW TUBE

PASSING AT THE LOWER STERN PART OF
THE SHIP CARRYING TAIL SHAFT AND
CONNECTING IT TO THE PROPELLER OUT
AT SEA.

 IT ALSO CARRIES BEARING FOR THE TAIL

SHAFT, LUBRICATION ARRANGEMENT
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY THE SEALING
ARRANGEMENTS.
Figure : Basic arrangement of stern tube
What is its function?
The two main purpose of the stern tube bearing are:

 Withstand load
 The propeller which hangs at the aft end exerts load on the shaft, which is
supported and withstand by the stern bearing. The bearing is a cast iron bush
lined with a white metal having excellent load handling and lubricating
property.
 The stern tube is fitted at the stern frame and internal framing of vessel’s hull at
aft peak.
 This allows the tail shaft to rotate smoothly in the bearing area for
uninterrupted propulsion.

 Sealing
 The stern tube bearing consists of sealing arrangement to prevent ingress of
water and to avoid the lubricating oil to escape into the sea. Sealing
arrangement
 The lubrication system for ships with variable draught (due to loading and
unloading of cargo) consists of header tanks located at around 2 to 3 meters
above the water line so that the differential pressure ensures no water ingress.
Different sealing arrangements are used to
prevent water ingress and oil leakage.
They are as follows:

 Stuffing boxes consisting of packing material.

 Lip seals in contact with shaft to prevent

passage of oil or water along the shaft.

 Radial face seals supported with springs fitted

radially around the shaft, aft bulkheads and
after end of the stern tube.

Out of these, the lip seal arrangement is most

popularly used
Stresses in tail shafts and stern tube

 Due to the considerable weight of the

propeller, the axis of the tail is subjected to
bending.

 There is a torsional stress due to the drag

torque of the propeller and the
motor/engine, and

 a compressive stress due to the pressure

support.
 Inside the Stern Tube
 The stern tube of a ship has a peculiar shape and
arrangement for carrying the propeller shaft. As the shape of
the ship is streamlined at the aft end, there is very little space
to accommodate the propeller shaft arrangement. The stern
tube is situated at the aft peak of the ship’s hull and the
propeller shaft arrangement is also situated at the same level.
The forward end of the stern tube is supported by the aft peak
bulk head and the aft end of the stern tube gets its support
from the stern frame of the ship. Throughout the length, the
shaft is supported by specially designed brackets and narrow
floors inside the stern tube.
Two types of stern tube :

1. Oil lubricated stern tube

2. Water lubricated stern tube

Water lubricated stern
tube
 The tube is usually constructed of cast steel with a flange at its forward end & a thread at
the aft end.
 Also at the aft end, tube has small flange cast on it. ( we can say this as collar)
 the tube is inserted from the forward end and the flange is bolted to the aft peak bulkhead
with a gasket to ensure water-tightness.
 A steel nut placed on the thread at aft end retain the tube in position with its collar hard
against the stern frame.
 Inside the tube is a brass bush which has grooves in it, running fore and aft.
 Strips of lignum vitae ( a resinous dense hardwood) are fitted into these grooves to act as
bearing for the shaft.

 Small spaces are left between the lignum vitae strips. Through these spaces water can
enter to lubricate and cool the shaft.
 A check ring bolted on the after end of the tube, keeps the strips in place.
 A stuffing box/water tight gland is fitted at the fore end of the tube to prevent water from
getting into
machinery or tunnel space but slight leakage is allowed to ensure cooling of this packing.
 A brass/gunmetal liner is shrunk fitted to the tail end shaft, usually for the full length of the
stern tube.
 Bearing length is 4 times the shaft diameter.
 Advantage:
 Natural lubrication assisted by SW.
 Predictable wear rate allows scheduling of dry-
docking in advance.
 No sophisticated forward/aft seals required.
 No chances of pollution due to leakage of oil into
water as in case of oil lubricated type.
 disadvantages
 Nearly all outboard bearings were water lubricated until about
1960, when transition to oil lubricated bearing begin due to
following drawbacks:
 Excessive wear-down of bearing materials was caused by the
trend to larger ship sizes, which had higher bearing loads. Also
Larger ships generally operate at deeper drafts; and with less
clearance between the hull and the channel bottom more
contaminants, such as silt mud and sand are drawn into the
bearing clearance causing their wear down.
 Poor quality of work when rewooding, inferior materials, presence
of sand, sediments in the water required early rewooding. Vessels
with engine aft, and particularly tankers & ore carriers which
spend long periods in ballast sometimes rewooding is required in
18 months. Shaft needs extra liner for SW corrosion protection.
 By using oil lubricated stern tube bearings above problems can
be eliminated. Oil lubricated stern tube bearings also reduce the
power loss in the shafting system. Also oil is better vibration
damper & superior lubricant than water
 Water Lubricated Stern Tube System checks
 For water lubricated stern tube system, following method can be used to
inspect the integrity of the stern tube in the dry dock:
 In water lubricated stern tube, the seal housing is provided with a test
connection which will be plugged all the time. Make temporary piping
connection to this connection providing a pressure gauge installed in the
pipe
 This type comes with a air inflatable seal. Connect an airline to that with
provision of a shut-off valve
 Maintain air pressure of approx. 40psi to the inflatable seal
 Check and ensure the air pressure does not drop at rate of 10%/ hour
 Now supply water to the seal casing via test connection with twice the
standard draught pressure of the ship
 Maintain the water supply for 20-30 minutes and check for any leakage
 Also check the complete seal assembly and mounting flanges for
leakage
 If no water is leaking, the sealing is OK to undergo normal operation
 Do remember to not rotate the shaft assembly once the inflatable sealing
ring is inflated with air supply, as this will damage the sealing ring.
Oil lubricated
stern tube
 The forward part of the stern tube is fabricated and
welded direct to the extension of the stern frame boss and
into the aft peak bulkhead.
 Oil pressure within the stern tube is maintained at
approximately the same level as that of the surrounding
sea water by a header tank.
 Oil is contained within the Simplex type stem tube by lip
seals.
 The elastic lip of each nitrile rubber seal, grips a rubbing
surface provided by short chrome steel liners at outboard
and inboard ends of the steel propeller shaft.
 The outboard liner additionally protects the steel shaft
from sea-water contact and corrosion.
 Heat produced by the friction will result in
hardening and loss of elasticity of the rubber,
should temperature of the seal material exceed
110°C.
 Cooling at the outboard end is provided by the
sea. Inboard seals, unlike those at the outboard
end, cannot dissipate heat to the surrounding
water.
 Oil circulation aided by convection, is arranged
to maintain the low temperature of the seals at
the inboard end. Connections for circulation, are
fitted top and bottom between the two inboard
seals and the small local header tank
 Oil lubricated stern tube system checks
 For oil lubricated stern tube system, there are two designs
available
 3 aft seals tube and
 4 aft seals tube.
 Following method can be used to inspect the integrity of the 3
seals stern tube in the dry dock:
 If both high level and low level oil tanks are provided in the
system, use the low level tank for filling the oil
 Align the oil feeding valves and feed oil in to the system from
the low level tank
 Now open the drain plugs provided between the 2
and 3 seals of the aft seal assembly and check for
any oil leak.
 Open the drain plug between 4 and 5 seals of the
forward seal assembly and check for any oil leak.
 Feed oil manually to the chamber between 1 and 2
seals in the aft seal assembly and check for any
leakages from seal 1 and drain plug provided in
between 2 and 3 sealing chamber.
 Close the drain of 2 and 3 sealing chamber and
then feed oil to the line between 2 and 3 seals and
fill the oil to the top of the plug. Check the level of oil
is not dropping.
 Similarly close the drain plug between 4 and 5 seals
chamber and feed oil. Check for oil leakage from
seal 5 in the forward area
 Following method can be used to inspect the integrity of the 4
seals stern tube in dry dock:
 Feed oil from the stern tube tank keeping the oiling line valve
closed for 3 and 3s seals
 Open the drain plugs of chambers 3 – 3s of aft sealing and 4 –
5 of forward sealing to check oil leakages
 Shut the drain plug of 3- 3s chamber and open oiling line
valve to feed oil to 3 – 3s chamber in the aft sealing
 Open drain plug for 2 – 3 chamber in the aft sealing and
check for oil leakage
 Feed oil to 1 -2 sealing chamber at the aft sealing
and check for oil leakage from seal 1 and drain
plug of 2 -3 chamber
 Now shut the drain plug of 2 – 3 chamber and fill
oil from the top plug. Make sure the oil level in the
top plug doesn’t drop
 Similarly shut the drain plug of 4 – 5 sealing
chamber and fill it with oil. Check for leakages
from seal 5 and area near the clamp ring
 Once all the leak tests are satisfactory, engineer
officer in-charge must ensure all the drain plugs
are put on before bringing the system in normal
operation.
 Examining a tail shaft and stern tube
 It is necessary to measure bearing wear before regular
inspection.
 To remove the stem after thorough examination.
 In setting bronze coating integrity of the water lubricated shaft
must be checked by knocking with a hammer on its entire
length to hear its hollow indicating separation.
 Measuring the wear of the shaft.
 Examine the button shaped cracks.
 Replace the rubber rings.