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ME305
Trouble With Steering Rudder Carrier
Technical committee

Ship type Tanker

Date of build September 26, 1991
Trouble machinery
Category Deck auxiliary equipment
Name Steering gear
Type
Maker Hitachi Zosen Corporation
Date of trouble October 14, 1996

1. Outline of breakdown

At around 8 o’clock on October 14 in Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, during a pre-departure test of
steering gear, abnormal noise was heard from the steering. From inspection of each part, it was found
that 10 out of 12 clamp bolts of the rudder carrier pedestal had loosened and the pedestal itself had
shifted by approximately 10mm in the circumferential direction (clockwise direction when viewed from
the top).

2. Repair

The following measures were implemented and it was decided that the measures were sufficient as not
to hinder subsequent voyages:
1) On October 14, the vessel was anchored offshore Kharg Island and the following were performed:
(1) The steering was turned 30 degrees alternately for both the port side and the starboard side and
all the bolts were retightened at the point where no abnormal noise occurred and the pedestal
movement is the smallest.
(2) A gap existed between the pedestal main body and the chock liner, a crack existed on the
locking piece, and peeling was found on spot welding between the chock liner and the locking
piece. Thus they were fixed to that point, and repair works by means of welding were carried out.
2) On October 18 during voyage through the Indian Ocean, a demounting inspection of clamp bolts and
measurement of rudderstock alignment were carried out, from which no abnormality was confirmed.
Also from measurement of holes of the demounted locking bolts, the substantial shift was confirmed
to be not over 6 mm which was within the tolerance. As for alignment, the values obtained from
measurement satisfied the reference value, where no shift was observed.
3) From a diver’s inspection carried out offshore Penang on October 26, it was confirmed that the un-
dersurface condition was free of abnormality.

3. Probable Cause

No abnormal noise was heard in the steering equipment test carried out at departure from Port Mina
Saud which was half a day before. It is presumed that vibration caused clamp bolts to loosen.

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