Reducing ships’ noise pollution

“Our main contribution will be performing model scale experiments in the cavitation tunnel for verification of effectiveness of different noise reduction measures, including application of air-lubrication, and providing validation data for the analytical and numerical models that will be developed in the project,” says Dr Kourosh Koushan, the PI for SINTEF Ocean and the Innovation Manager of the LOWNOISER project. Dr Luca Savio leads the technical work at SINTEF Ocean.

Air lubrication is when air bubbles are injected beneath a ship with the aim to reduce friction, and thereby fuel consumption.   

Marine underwater noise pollution is a threat to marine ecosystems disrupting essential marine species’ communication, navigation and reproduction. The European Commission’s Marine Strategic Framework Directive requires 80% of the habitat sizes for target species to be protected from harmful noise levels, and LOWNOISER will address parts of this challenge.

HX Hurtigruten Expeditions’ cruise ship Roald Amundsen will be one of the five full-scale demonstration vessels.

The other parts of the project will focus on:

• Low noise bevel gears and engine mounts: design to minimise vibrations and structural noise emitted by engines and propellers;
• Onboard monitoring systems: track and adjust ship noise emissions in real-time; and
• Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS): using fibre optic cables to monitor underwater noise in busy marine areas without disturbing the marine environment.

The overall aim of LOWNOISER is to create tools and guidelines to shape international standards for underwater noise reduction. These guidelines could help shipbuilders, equipment suppliers and regulatory bodies to adopt sustainable practices and meet new environmental benchmarks.

LOWNOISER is funded through the EU Horizon programme grant agreement 101192302.