European project for achieving quieter oceans by shipping noise footprint reduction

Abstract

There is a growing consensus among the scientific community for the need to mitigate underwater noise footprint due to shipping, in order to prevent negative consequences to marine life. In that context, AQUO project started in October 2012, in the scope of the FP7 European Research Framework, for three years duration. The final goal is to provide policy makers with practical guidelines and solutions, acceptable by shipyards and ship owners, in order to mitigate underwater noise due to noise radiation from ships. First, a general presentation of the project will be given, and the logical relationship between the tasks will be outlined. A key element is the development of a “Shipping noise footprint assessment tool,” derived from the software Quonops©. This tool can predict the noise map in a maritime area using real time information on ship traffic. Many other studies are undergoing, covering ship underwater radiated noise, propeller noise (including cavitation), and bio-acoustic experiments. The AQUO project team is composed of ship industry, specialized companies, a classification society, research centres and academics, allowing addressing the complexity of the topic. In a second part, some recent results from the project will be given. These will include, for example, the definition of indicators for the impact of shipping noise on marine life, results from vibro-acoustic measurements on several ships at sea, and results from bio-acoustic studies.