New Hatch Cover Bearing Pad

Polypad is a new plastics-based self-lubricating hatch cover bearing pad which offers benefits to shipowners and yards in terms of a good load-bearing performance, predictable wear-down rate and extended lifetime. MacGREGOR’s investigations of low-friction materials for hatch cover bearing pads have resulted in the range of low-friction pad options. The Polypad solution resulted from studies on plastic materials for this application, which were initiated in 1993.

The Polypad extends MacGREGOR's range of low-friction bearing pads which comprised of Lubripad (bronze/PTFE), Flexipad (steel/rubber), and Unipad (woven PTFE). Comprehensive tests in the laboratory and at sea have confirmed a number of unique characteristics of the new the Polypad:

low risk of damage and predictable wear-down rate

smooth and silent sliding action with good load-bearing capacity

good abrasion resistance and minimal wear-down

sliding properties remain almost constant over the pad's lifetime

good self-aligning properties

The Polypads have been specified for a series of 4,350 TEU container ships ordered by the German owners Bertram Rickmers and Peter Dohle from Poland's Gdynia Shipyard, and for 2,500 TEU container ships booked at the Jurong Shipyard in Singapore by Athens-based NIKI Shipping.