Bearing Wear Down

In spite of the facts mentioned above, the bearing suffers some wear and the clearance will increase over a period of time. This wear down is measured when the ship is dry docked, the frequency of which is dictated by the Classification Rules, using a wear down gauge. The wear down gauge is in fact a depth gauge and it actually measures the depth of the shaft from a reference surface at the top and the height of the same from a reference point at the bottom. The wear down of the bearing since the time last reading was taken ( in case of first dry docking, the last reading would have been taken at the time of launching of the vessel after completion of work in the building dock) is the difference between the last readings and the present ones. The maximum wear down allowed depends basically on the size of the shaft and the type of bearing used ( and the maximum bearing clearance permitted) and will be stipulated by the manufacturers of the shafting system. Once the wear down exceeds this value, the stern tube bearing will have to be re-metalled.