Working on a fishing boat is one of the occupations where danger is a part of the job description. You go out to sea in appalling weather conditions and one wrong step can send you overboard. It’s a lonely life and to survive you have to be strong.
It’s also a tough environment for lubricating greases. In heavy seas when cold, salty waves constantly crash over deck, everything takes a beating – wire ropes, chains, life boat davit systems and deck cranes. The grease has to stay in place to protect the equipment from wear and maintain its functions. Not an easy task.
Together with an international project group, we developed a lubricating grease that survives the waves. The key components were calcium as the thickener (cold-resilient) and a polymer-based oil (very sticky). “Only epoxy glue sticks better – but that’s not a very good lubricant,” was the verdict from the fishing world.
