Subscribe to our Mailing Lists (It's free!)
Thursday, May 29, 2025
SAFETY4SEA
  • Home
  • Safety
    • All
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
    Yet another commercial vessel gets attacked in the Red Sea

    Russian seafarers evacuated from oil tanker in Yemen

    Dutch Safety Board investigation

    Dutch Safety Board investigation finds SAR response gaps

    merchant fleet NATO

    New report reveals merchant fleets shrink across NATO nations

    Dryad Global Black Sea security

    Dryad Global: Attacks on Ukraine’s ports likely to escalate

  • SEAFiT
    • All
    • Intellectual
    • Mental
    • Physical
    • Social
    • Spiritual
    culture of respect

    Addressing crew shortage: Establish clear expectations for respectful and professional behaviour

    Book Review: Building leaders the MMMA way

    Book Review: How to avoid a climate disaster

    mental health

    MOL takes step to enhance the mental health of its crew

    Book Review: Building leaders the MMMA way

    Book Review: The Art Of War

  • Green
    • All
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
    17 lng carriers

    Korean yard cuts steel for seventeen LNG carriers

    MoU hydrogen

    New MoU signed to advance hydrogen transportation

    SGS completes wind propulsion trials with promising results

    SGS completes wind propulsion trials with promising results

    COSCO

    COSCO adds dual-fuel car carrier featuring solar panels to its fleet

  • Smart
    • All
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart
    digitalization

    New dataset aligned with IMO Compendium post-FAL 49

    Crew connectivity a ‘powerful tool’ requiring strategic deployment

    Crew connectivity a ‘powerful tool’ requiring strategic deployment

    New deal sees autonomous navigation systems for two vessels

    New deal sees autonomous navigation systems for two vessels

    cyber security

    CyberOwl raises alarm on phising and malware campaign

  • Risk
    • All
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Focus
    • Vetting
    NCL Salten

    Inspection onboard NCL Salten reveals deficiencies

    India monsoon

    India: Mooring and anchoring during the Monsoon season

    hull

    Libya mandates underwater hull inspections

    Indian Ocean MoU Annual report

    Indian Ocean MoU PSC Annual Report 2024

  • Others
    • All
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
    black sea

    EU develops strategy to boost Black Sea security and stability

    green shipping

    Chinese and EU ports join forces for three green shipping corridors

    Three companies merge to form InterMaritime Shipmanagement

    Major industry players announce stock-for-stock merger

    Trump tariffs

    US trade court blocks and rules Trump’s tariffs as unlawful

  • Columns
    wellness crew

    A thriving crew means a thriving industry

    seafarers

    Addressing challenges for a safer and more efficient maritime future

    Philippines crew management

    Our people are our greatest asset

    Trending Tags

    • Book Review
    • Career Paths
    • Human Performance
    • Industry Voices
    • Interviews
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Regulatory Update
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
    • Training & Development
    • Wellness Corner
    • Wellness Tips
  • Events
  • Plus
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Safety
    • All
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
    Yet another commercial vessel gets attacked in the Red Sea

    Russian seafarers evacuated from oil tanker in Yemen

    Dutch Safety Board investigation

    Dutch Safety Board investigation finds SAR response gaps

    merchant fleet NATO

    New report reveals merchant fleets shrink across NATO nations

    Dryad Global Black Sea security

    Dryad Global: Attacks on Ukraine’s ports likely to escalate

  • SEAFiT
    • All
    • Intellectual
    • Mental
    • Physical
    • Social
    • Spiritual
    culture of respect

    Addressing crew shortage: Establish clear expectations for respectful and professional behaviour

    Book Review: Building leaders the MMMA way

    Book Review: How to avoid a climate disaster

    mental health

    MOL takes step to enhance the mental health of its crew

    Book Review: Building leaders the MMMA way

    Book Review: The Art Of War

  • Green
    • All
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
    17 lng carriers

    Korean yard cuts steel for seventeen LNG carriers

    MoU hydrogen

    New MoU signed to advance hydrogen transportation

    SGS completes wind propulsion trials with promising results

    SGS completes wind propulsion trials with promising results

    COSCO

    COSCO adds dual-fuel car carrier featuring solar panels to its fleet

  • Smart
    • All
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart
    digitalization

    New dataset aligned with IMO Compendium post-FAL 49

    Crew connectivity a ‘powerful tool’ requiring strategic deployment

    Crew connectivity a ‘powerful tool’ requiring strategic deployment

    New deal sees autonomous navigation systems for two vessels

    New deal sees autonomous navigation systems for two vessels

    cyber security

    CyberOwl raises alarm on phising and malware campaign

  • Risk
    • All
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Focus
    • Vetting
    NCL Salten

    Inspection onboard NCL Salten reveals deficiencies

    India monsoon

    India: Mooring and anchoring during the Monsoon season

    hull

    Libya mandates underwater hull inspections

    Indian Ocean MoU Annual report

    Indian Ocean MoU PSC Annual Report 2024

  • Others
    • All
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
    black sea

    EU develops strategy to boost Black Sea security and stability

    green shipping

    Chinese and EU ports join forces for three green shipping corridors

    Three companies merge to form InterMaritime Shipmanagement

    Major industry players announce stock-for-stock merger

    Trump tariffs

    US trade court blocks and rules Trump’s tariffs as unlawful

  • Columns
    wellness crew

    A thriving crew means a thriving industry

    seafarers

    Addressing challenges for a safer and more efficient maritime future

    Philippines crew management

    Our people are our greatest asset

    Trending Tags

    • Book Review
    • Career Paths
    • Human Performance
    • Industry Voices
    • Interviews
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Regulatory Update
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
    • Training & Development
    • Wellness Corner
    • Wellness Tips
  • Events
  • Plus
No Result
View All Result
SAFETY4SEA

Noise in Ports

by The Editorial Team
April 28, 2016
in Opinions, Pollution
biofuels rotterdam

Above image is used for illustration purposes only

FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedin

J. (Rob) Witte,  DGMR advised how to reduce  ‘’Noise in Ports’’ during the 2016 GREEN4SEA Conference & Awards.  He explained that moored seagoing vessels produce sound that can be perceived as annoying by residents living near harbours. The number of complaints in the Rotterdam Port Area is on average 250/year on this subject.

Sometimes ships cause large noise problems. We are not talking about loading and unloading noise but about auxiliary engines and funnel noise which sometimes has very loud and very low frequencies; it will travel through the windows right in the houses and people cannot sleep and start complaining. It is not common but it has happened over in Rotterdam, in Vancouver and in Great Britain. As a solution, you can take down the funnel and put a proper silencer inside, of course that is not the very big problem if you do it at the start of the building of the ship, but then again that does not always work. Sometimes we have low frequency components and that’s below 100 Hz, one can hear it very far away and when housing isolation is poor the sound will travel through your window and will cause a lot of annoyance. Regarding solution, do it right when you start building because afterwards it will cost a lot of money.

In Rotterdam port area, we generally have 250 complaints per year and only last year there were 1,400 complaints; people get worn out with this problem and start phoning. Failing mufflers on aggregates and compressors and sometimes even public address systems on ships may all constitute considerable noise sources. The port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam face a problem with noise coming from ships – they cannot regulate it because it is foreign territory and there are no rules. As DGMR, we have done a lot of measurements on ships and have created for several types of ships noise sound power levels depending on the deadweight tonnage. I have calculated the noise impact of ships at the Westpoort port and it can be said that the ship noise is the major part of the industrial noise that comes out of this area, so this is a problem for a port once it has a good relationship with the surrounding area and people living over there complain.

The ESPO ranking noise is quite an important subject; it was number 9 in 2009 and now it is number 3 However, the biggest part of the noise-almost 50%- is coming from the ships. So if port authorities want to do something about noise, they do something about shipping noise. So how can this noise be controlled? This is a question where you come in.

RelatedNews

Dryad Global: Attacks on Ukraine’s ports likely to escalate

Maritime GHG regulation: Navigating the path to decarbonization

The IMO also said something about noise only regarding the inside of the ship but no rules for the surroundings, such as the ventilation system, were enacted and that is something which should be incorporated as well. Or one can get alternative marine power and reduce the noise coming out of a ship which of course is an expensive solution. You get a reduction for bulk carrier about 10 dB for , tanker probably 0, for container about 5 dB, RoRo ships-with a large ventilation- is about 0 dB, so it is not always helping the case and it could be done much cheaper as well. First of all, install a proper silencer, mostly in place and secondly, if that is in place, put on silencers on vents, which are usually not present and they do not cost that much. Acoustic louvres reduce noise by 10 dB and cost €1000/m2 while duct silencers by 20 dB with a cost of 2000/m2. Not too much I think.

But how do you get to build these ships with less noise? Port rates could be one of the issues that would enforce such things. IMO taking steps to resolve the noise issue would be a fruitful initiative but of course this takes time and it could be done faster.

We want to start a project on noise reduction. The objectives are a) to reduce the nuisance in ports from moored ships, b) have a practical measurement method of the source and c) introduce best practices/design tools and decision tool to judge a ship.

In conclusion, moored ship noise is an important environmental factor. Mitigating noise measures are easily performed as they are relatively cheap. Ship rewards can stimulate the use of silent ships and will help to improve the environment, as we live in the environment and we should take care of it. The project on moored ships noise reduction is on the way and you could be part of it. Your information is needed to make this project work and make the right decisions.

 

Above text is an edited article of J.Rob Witte presentation during the 2016 GREEN4SEA Conference & Awards

You may view his presentation video by clicking here

 

Click here to view all the presentations of 2016 GREEN4SEA Conference & Awards

The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of  GREEN4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion  purposes only.

[divider]

About J. (Rob) Witte,  Senior Consultant, Traffic & Environment, DGMR

Witte_Rob Witte, born 1958, has earned his master at the Delft University of Technology, studying acoustics. Directly after, he started his career for DGMR. His work consists of many all-round environmental projects but his main focus is on port noise. He and his team advises the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam and many companies like container terminals (a.o. ECT, RWG)  and chemical industry (a.o. DOW, TRN , BP) and RoRo terminals (a.o. Stenaline, C.Ro). Furthermore Rob was a member of the team that renewed the Dutch noise calculating scheme for industrial noise, was project leader in the European research project on industrial noise called IMAGINE and is part of the follow up called CNOSSOS. Especially port related issues and noise were addressed in the NoMEPorts (2008) research project with Rob as technical advisor.

Noise in PortsNoise in Ports
Noise in PortsNoise in Ports
Tags: GREEN4SEAnoise pollutionPort of Rotterdamports
Previous Post

Lay up procedures for Indian vessels announced

Next Post

The ship manager perspective towards EU MRV and future MBMs

Related News

wind propulsion
Opinions

An overview of wind propulsion developments

May 28, 2025
green energy
Fuels

New partnership aims to establish green energy supply chain

May 27, 2025
Hong Kong
Smart

Hong Kong launches smart port system for interconnectivity

May 23, 2025
shanghai port
Emissions

Study finds port emissions on the rise despite initiatives

May 23, 2025
port of rotterdam
Fuels

Port of Rotterdam and EDGE to cooperate on liquid hydrogen

May 22, 2025
libya tripoli
Alerts

Tripoli port operations suspended due to escalating violence

May 20, 2025

Comments 1

  1. Claudio Seccia says:
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the job . In Genoa, Italy , the noise problem of the ships moored in the port is very strong . Container ships moored at PSA Pra Voltri are 150,000 DWT . The noise involves , with varying intensity , more than 25,000 PEOPLE . The District Pegli west – Pra – Voltri Palmaro- east are very suffering from noise . fb : meno rumore meno fumo piu lavoro da porto Pra (less noise Less smoke More Work From Porto Pra )’; a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OGJMQ4F9i4

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Explore more

No Result
View All Result
MARITIME EVENTS

Explore

  • Safety
  • SEAFiT
  • Green
  • Smart
  • Risk
  • Others
  • SAFETY4SEA Events
  • SAFETY4SEA Plus Subscription

Useful Links

  • About
  • Disclaimer
  • Editorial Policies
  • Advertising
  • Content Marketing
  • Contact

© 2025 SAFETY4SEA

No Result
View All Result
  • Safety
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
  • SEAFiT
    • Intellectual
    • Mental
    • Physical
    • Social
    • Spiritual
  • Green
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
  • Smart
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart
  • Risk
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Case Studies
    • PSC Focus
    • Vetting
  • Others
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
  • Columns
    • Book Review
    • Career Paths
    • Human Performance
    • Industry Voices
    • Interviews
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Opinions
    • Regulatory Update
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
    • Tip of the day
    • Training & Development
    • Wellness Corner
    • Wellness Tips
  • SAFETY4SEA Events
  • SAFETY4SEA Plus Subscription

© 2025 SAFETY4SEA

Manage your privacy
We use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. We do this to improve browsing experience and to show (non-) personalized ads. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Manage options
{title} {title} {title}
No Result
View All Result
  • Safety
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
  • SEAFiT
    • Intellectual
    • Mental
    • Physical
    • Social
    • Spiritual
  • Green
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
  • Smart
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart
  • Risk
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Case Studies
    • PSC Focus
    • Vetting
  • Others
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
  • Columns
    • Book Review
    • Career Paths
    • Human Performance
    • Industry Voices
    • Interviews
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Opinions
    • Regulatory Update
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
    • Tip of the day
    • Training & Development
    • Wellness Corner
    • Wellness Tips
  • SAFETY4SEA Events
  • SAFETY4SEA Plus Subscription

© 2025 SAFETY4SEA