KEMEL Stern Tube Seal
Spare Parts Supplier
Stern tube seals and bearings from KEMEL, the former Kobelco Eagle Marine Engineering, read from the seal plate and the docking documents, so seal rings, liners and bushes are quoted against the seal that is actually on the shaft.
KEMEL and Kobelco seals behind docking enquiries
Kobelco Eagle Marine Engineering was formed in 2004, when Kobe Steel's Kobelco Marine Engineering and the marine business of Eagle Industry were brought together, with stern tube seals and bearings as its field. The company belongs to the Eagle Industry group and now works under the KEMEL name. Its range runs to oil- and water-lubricated stern tube seals, stern tube bushes and intermediate shaft bearings. Which of these sits on a ship is read from the seal plate and the docking documents, not assumed from the age or type of the ship.
Compact Seal CX · DX
Kobelco's lip-ring seal for oil-lubricated stern tubes, built in CX and DX types and fitted as an aft seal against the sea and a forward seal against the engine room. Several seal rings sit in line inside the seal casing and run on a chrome steel liner. Seal rings, liner, casing O-rings and gaskets are the recurring docking lines, and the type letters on the plate decide which ring set applies.
Air Seal AX
The air-type aft seal of the same oil-lubricated range, run with an air supply from the ship. Rings, liner and the air control items are quoted together, and the plate or the seal drawing shows whether an AX seal or a Compact Seal is fitted at the stern.
Water-lubricated seals and bearings
KEMEL also builds seals and bearings for stern tubes that run on sea water instead of oil, among them the EVK seal types. They are a separate line from the oil-lubricated seals: the seal type and serial are taken from the water-lubricated seal's own plate or manual.
Stern tube bushes · intermediate shaft bearings
On an oil-lubricated stern tube the bearing is a cast iron bush lined with white metal, and KEMEL lists stern tube bushes alongside its KMF and KMS intermediate shaft bearings. A bush is re-metalled or renewed against the drawing number and the docking measurements, never against a photograph alone.
What brings a KEMEL seal onto a docking list
A stern tube seal is reached only with the ship in dock or with the propeller end opened by divers, so most enquiries are written from what the crew saw in service and what the yard found on opening.
Oil loss or a sheen astern
Falling level in the stern tube gravity tank, oil on the water at the stern or a rising sump in the seal drain point to the aft rings or to a grooved liner under them. Note the level history and whether the loss changes with draught; both help the yard decide how far to open.
Water in the stern tube oil
Sea water reaching the bearing space shows first in an oil sample. On an Air Seal the air supply is checked before the rings; on a Compact Seal the rings and the liner surface are the first suspects. Send the latest oil analysis with the request.
Grooves under the lips
Seal rings run on a liner, and each ring wears a track into it over the years. A new ring set on a grooved liner will not hold for long, so the liner condition found at opening decides whether the liner is reworked or renewed, or whether a spacer ring moves the new rings onto a fresh track.
Rope or net round the shaft
Fishing line or rope wound round the shaft can cut the aft rings in one event. List the aft rings, the casing O-rings and any rope guard at the propeller end together, and add photographs taken at the propeller end before cleaning.
KEMEL items that appear on RFQ lines
Grouped by assembly: the aft and forward seals are separate assemblies with separate ring sets, and each line should name the assembly and the ring position it belongs to.
- Seal rings for aft and forward Compact Seal assemblies, CX or DX, by ring position
- Air Seal AX aft rings and air control items
- Liners on which the seal rings run, new or for rework
- Spacer rings that move the seal rings onto a fresh liner track
- Seal casing O-rings, gaskets and bolting from the seal parts list
- Water-lubricated stern tube seal parts and bearings
- Stern tube bushes, white-metal lined, against the drawing
- Intermediate shaft bearing parts
- Gravity tank and drain fittings of the stern tube oil system
Reading a KEMEL seal plate and docking file
A stern tube seal is quoted from what is written on it and in its documents. These items make the request quotable without anyone guessing a ring:
- Seal type exactly as it reads on the seal plate or in the docking documents
- Seal size as stamped on the plate or shown on the seal drawing, rather than a measured shaft
- Serial or order number of the seal, and the maker name as written: KEMEL, Kobelco Eagle or Kobelco
- Which assembly: aft seal, forward seal, or both, and the ring positions to be renewed
- Drawing number and the item numbers from the seal parts list
- Ring compound if marked, for example FKM or NBR — the elastomer code reader reads the code
- Whether the shaft will be drawn at this docking or the rings are to be fitted with the shaft in place
- Stern tube lubricant in use, mineral oil or an environmentally acceptable grade, and the latest oil analysis
- Photographs of the plate, the removed rings and the liner surface
- Docking yard, port and the dates the ship is in dock
How a KEMEL request is worked
Each line is reviewed as a genuine part or a checked alternative, and the route is confirmed before the quote. For a stern tube seal that review starts from the seal plate, because a wrong ring cannot be put right once the ship has left the dock.
Seal rings follow the seal, not a measurement
Seal rings and liners are quoted against the seal type, size and serial from the plate or the docking documents. A substitute ring is not proposed from a measured shaft or a photograph of a worn lip; if the plate is unreadable, the drawing number or the order number from the docking file is the way back to the right set.
Standard items on a checked path
Casing O-rings, gaskets and bolting may be catalogue items behind a seal part number. Where the owner accepts it, these can go on a checked alternative path once the cross-section and compound are confirmed from the parts list or the removed part; the O-ring size finder helps with the line.
One docking scope, not three orders
Aft rings, forward rings, liner, spacer ring and casing O-rings are read as one list, so the seal is not closed up one ring short. Bush and intermediate bearing lines are kept on the same request but marked separately, since they follow the yard's measurements.
Older names on the plate
A plate from before the renaming may read Kobelco or Kobelco Eagle. The serial and the drawing number carry over, and they matter more than the name; send the plate as it is and do not rewrite it as KEMEL.
KEMEL stern tube seal parts — questions from docking superintendents
My seal plate says Kobelco Eagle. Is that KEMEL?
Yes, the same company line. Kobelco Eagle Marine Engineering was formed in 2004 from Kobe Steel's Kobelco Marine Engineering and the marine business of Eagle Industry, and it now works under the KEMEL name within the Eagle Industry group. Older plates may read Kobelco alone. Send the plate as it reads, with the serial.
Can seal rings be quoted from the shaft diameter alone?
No. A ring set belongs to a seal type and size, so a Compact Seal CX or DX and an Air Seal AX on the same shaft are not assumed to take the same rings. Send the seal type, size and serial from the seal plate or the docking documents; without them the ring set is not fixed, and no substitute ring is suggested in their place.
Is a KEMEL seal read on the EagleBurgmann page?
No. A stern tube seal plate reading EagleBurgmann is read against that maker's own type numbers on the EagleBurgmann page; a plate reading KEMEL, Kobelco Eagle or Kobelco is read here. The two type lists do not mix, so the name on the plate routes the enquiry.
Is this the same Kobelco as the gas compressors?
The Kobelco in the seal maker's former name comes from Kobe Steel, which owned Kobelco Marine Engineering before 2004. The compressors are Kobe Steel machines with their own plates and parts lists, read on the Kobelco compressor page; nothing on a compressor list applies to a stern tube seal.
Does it matter whether the shaft will be drawn?
Yes. Lip-type seal rings can be fitted with the shaft drawn, or cut and joined in position with the shaft in place, and the two are ordered differently. Say which the yard plans, together with the docking dates.
Is Vessel Core connected to KEMEL?
No, and there is no agreement of any kind. Vessel Core holds no distribution, representation or partnership agreement with KEMEL, and quoting a component against one of its designations implies no approval by the maker and no claim of interchangeability.
Start with the seal plate.
Send the seal type, size and serial as they read on the plate or in the docking documents, which assembly and ring positions are to be renewed, whether the shaft will be drawn, and the yard and docking dates. Each line is tied to the seal it belongs to before a part reference is fixed against it.
