GloNoise Partnership

Shipping is one of the major sources of underwater sound in the marine environment, with ships of different sizes producing varied frequencies of sound. First there are small leisure crafts and boats with a length of up to 50 m, e.g., recreational crafts, jet skis, speed boats, operational work boats, hover crafts. Then there are medium sized ships with a length of between 50 and 100 m, e.g., support and supply ships and many research vessels. The third group includes large vessels with a length of greater than 100m. This category includes container/cargo ships, super-tankers, and cruise liners. 

Sounds from shipping have a wide range in frequencies, from about 10 Hz extending up to and above 1 kHz. Sound levels vary between app. 160- and well above 200 dB re 1 µPa re 1m. The exact characteristics of the sound emissions depend on variables such as vessel type, size and operational mode. In general, the larger the ship gets, the more intense its generated sound levels become, and the lower its sound frequency. In line with this trend, large commercial vessels produce relatively loud and predominately low frequency sounds with the strongest energy concentrated below several hundred Hz with most broadband source levels generally in the 180 - 190 dB re: 1μPa range. Large vessels dominate low-frequency background noise in many marine environments worldwide and due to the steady increase in shipping over the past decades (estimated at 4 % per year globally), potential pressures on the marine environment will increase too. As a result of the ever-increasing volume of international commercial shipping, the sector is expected to contribute to underwater noise more and more unless action on the mitigation of this sound source is taken.

Sound is critically important for most marine animals, including marine mammals, as its production and detection serves important biological functions such as communication, foraging, reproduction, navigation, and predator avoidance. Where there is an overlap between the frequencies of the anthropogenic sound sources and those of the sound used by marine animals, there can be interference with such important biological functions. The predominately low frequency sounds associated with large commercial vessels directly overlap with typical low frequency communication sounds and hearing of many marine mammals, particularly large whales, some seals and sea lions and fishes. This places marine life under increasing stress and can lead to effects ranging from very subtle behavioural reactions and changes to death at very high exposure, depending on the physical properties of the received sound.

Considering the global dimension of shipping, mitigation of the impacts of underwater noise requires constructive engagement with a broad range of stakeholders, including regulators, industry, research institutes, civil society, regional organizations and governance mechanisms. Therefore, the project seeks to bring stakeholders together in a Global Strategic Partnership (GSP), which will function as a public-private platform for sharing experiences, facilitating dialogue on emerging science and mitigation advances, and fostering multi-stakeholder engagement. Other projects and initiatives on underwater noise mitigation will also be invited to participate in the strategic partnership's knowledge and experience sharing activities.