Geislinger Gesilco® shafts used for the fastest ferries in the world

The state of the art production hall for carbon fiber composite products at Geislinger Bad St. Leonhard in Carinthia was completed in early spring this year and covers a total area of 4.685 m². Due to the increased demand for fiber composite products this extension of the production site was necessary and facilitates a flexible adaption to customer-specific requirements.

Geislinger offers a variety of Gesilco® products manufactured from carbon fibre composite materials. Shafts up to a length of 10 meters as well as the Geislinger Compowind® with a diameter up to 3.5 meters can be manufactured at the production site in Carinthia. Furthermore the Gesilco® product range is supplemented by a variety of additional products such as the Gesilco® monobrane, the Gesilco® classic coupling, and many others.

The manufacturing competence in the field of composite products has been successfully proven by Geislinger shafts. By replacing the steel flange, the maintenance-free shafts feature one-piece manufacturing with an integrated carbon fibre flange connection. Therefore the weight of the shafts is reduced by approximately 50% compared to other composite solutions.

Outstanding shock capabilities and excellent acoustic attenuation further underline the use of Geislinger shaft for vessels running at high speeds.

The high-speed ferry Francisco, claiming to be the fastest gas-powered ferry in the world (58 knots), relies on an IS 50 shaft by Geislinger. Operating between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, the Francisco is the first dual fueled high-speed ferry running on liquefied natural gas as primary fuel and marine distillate as a back-up power source. With more than 25 years’ experience in developing fibre composite couplings and shafts, Geislinger is a reliable partner for composite products. Tailored design solutions provide easy adaption to various connection interfaces.