Abstract
Together with the emerging of the Eco-ship, the application of large-diameter and high-efficiency propeller required more careful attention than before in the design of the shafting system. After the adoption of Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants (EAL) to the stern tube lubrication oil, a number of aft stern tube bearing accidents have been reported, and a variety of institutions have actively conducted research on the cause relationship. This study attempted to find the cause of the accident by measuring the alignment of the shafting system of a medium-sized product/chemical tanker with aft stern tube bearing damage and analyzing the reaction force of each bearing. In addition, a reasonable solution to the correction of the shaft alignment was suggested and the feasibility was reviewed. Through various measured data and analysis, the actual installation of shafting system was slightly different from the design drawing condition, but it was found that each bearing load distribution was within the allowable range. Therefore, it was confirmed that the cause of this accident was due to the dissatisfaction the misalignment slope of aft stern tube bearing rather than the effect of the bearing overload. As a solution to this cause, countermeasures such as double slope were suggested in the aft stern tube bearing, and the characteristics of EAL also seem to have an indirect effect.