News | 02/03/2021 Liebherr advances into new dimensions with the world's largest slewing drive units

Liebherr delivers the world's largest worm-driven slewing drive units in the world for an innovative sailing system by eConowind.

Liebherr advances into new dimensions with the world’s largest slewing drive units.

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Inspired by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Liebherr customer eConowind develops an innovative sailing system that is intended to revolutionise commercial shipping. Up to 40 metres in hight, futuristic metal sails serve as propulsion support for cargo ships. The world’s largest slewing drive units turn these huge sails. Using wind power in this way, fuel costs in shipping can be reduced by up to 20 percent. This is a breakthrough for the industry and an important step towards a more economical and ecological shipping.

When used on the high seas, the Liebherr products fully demonstrate their advantages and make an important contribution to a low-emission world. Liebherr slewing drive units are self-contained systems consisting of a drive and a bearing unit. This makes the components particularly resistant to extreme environmental influences, such as salt water or dust. Special sealing systems and surface coatings also add to the high resistance of the large components and make them ideal for use at sea. The massive, worm-driven components from Liebherr measure 1.720 mm in diameter each and weigh together over 1.4 tonnes.

"With the delivery of the huge slewing drives, Liebherr does not only set a new record, but also makes a decisive contribution to more sustainable shipping and a low-emission world," concludes Benjamin Schmid, Key Account Manager Maritime Applications at Liebherr-Components AG.

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