Underwater Radiated Noise guidance

The Korean Regis t er (KR) has published a new ‘Guidance for Under wat er Radiat ed Noise’ whic h will h e l p p r o t e c t m a r i n e e c o s y s t e m s by reducing noise from ships.

As the size and speed of vessels around the globe increases to handle high volumes of seaborne trade so under water radiated noise is becoming a more serious issue, causing increasing disruption to the marine ecosystem

The IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) is discussing measures to mitigate this growing challenge As a result, new regulations are expected shor tly, which will determine sensitive areas to noise, where ships calling in that area will be required to meet appropriate standards for under water radiated noise

The maritime industr y is also focused on developing core technologies to address the issue as environmental regulations are tightened, as par t of the overall paradigm shift to more eco-friendly ships In suppor t of this industr y move, the Korean Register (KR) has developed a class notation for under water radiated noise and Guidance which is based on ISO 17208 (International standard of quantities and procedures for description and measurement of under water sound from ships) The Guidance covers the noise standard for two operating conditions: normal operation (transit) and quiet operation (quiet)

The class notation is given in the form of ‘URN-T(20)’, which indicates that when a ship operates at a speed equivalent to 20 knots in still water, it meets the transit criteria for under water radiated noise URN is an abbreviation for under water radiated noise

A KR official said: “Several countries and por ts have already introduced regulations relating to under water radiated noise, and some por ts, such as the Por t of Vancouver, are offering discounts on por t user fees for vessels that meet the standards If our customers’ vessels have obtained KR’s class notation for under water radiated noise, they will also be able to benefit from these advantages while reducing their impact on the maritime environment ”

KR has fur ther plans in development to actively suppor t its customers’ compliance with regulations on under water radiated noise, including technical ser vices which will enable customers to implement low-noise ship technology