Quiet-Oceans Participates in Joint Project on Reducing Noise Footprint of Maritime Traffic

The silent world is becoming less and less quiet: one reason for this is the increase in global maritime traffic whose effects on marine biodiversity are complex and still largely unknown. Quiet-Oceans has been selected to participate in a joint project funded by the European Commission to reduce the underwater noise footprint of shipping and thereby better protect marine fauna and flora.

The project will help put forth solutions that will influence the design of future naval and civilian ships as well as maritime traffic regulations. The project will comply with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) whose aim is to achieve and/or maintain a Good Environmental Status of the marine environment by 2020. The introduction of noise energy in oceans is now considered a source of pollution and is one of the indicators for assessing the Good Environmental Status that member States must comply with.

This collaborative project, called AQUO (Achieve QUieter Oceans by shipping noise footprint reduction), brings together a consortium of 13 EU partners (research centers, shipbuilding professionals and certification professionals) with an expertise in noise, ship vibrations and marine biology. It is coordinated by DCNS Research. 3 years will be dedicated to field work, laboratory work and the drafting of recommendations.

Being an expert in underwater acoustic modeling, Quiet-Oceans will be in charge of characterizing the noise footprint of maritime traffic and assessing the related risks for biodiversity (marine mammals, fish and cephalopods). Following the same principle as meteorological forecasting systems, Quonops©, the ocean noise monitoring and forecasting operational system developed by Quiet-Oceans, will provide maps of noise levels integrating a very detailed classification of the various ship sizes. These maps will be a determining factor for assessing the possible correlation between the noise levels generated by maritime traffic and the habitat and migration areas of the various marine species. Quonops© will thus help quantify the effects of changes in these noise levels and evaluate the positive impact on biodiversity of the recommendations regarding shipbuilding standards and maritime traffic regulations.

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Quiet-Oceans, January 28, 2013