Bruit sous-marin

Monitoring of regulations

2.1. Conduct regular hull cleaning and propeller blade maintenance. The participant must keep a record of these actions for each vessel in their fleet.

Note: Hull cleaning and propeller maintenance should at least be done during dry dock.

2.2. Review the list of sensitive areas in Canadian, US and EU waters to determine whether the participant’s vessels transit through or have operations in such areas. Ensure that this information is communicated to each vessel.

Note: See Annex 6-A.

2.3 Participate in voluntary traffic measures, if such measure provides noise-reduction benefits, such as a slowdown, alternative routing or lateral displacement or any equivalent measure(s), in specific zones as identified by a port or governmental authority.

Note: The Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) in the North-West Mediterranean will limit the speed at 13 knots.

3.1. Actively participate in providing whale sighting data in European waters through a logbook, a recognized application such as a European version of the US app Whale Alert or the REPCET system (outside mandatory zones for French ship owners), or any other whale sighting research project.

Note: If sightings are recorded in a logbook, the data should be shared with a recognized central database, and reported to a coastal authority, with both done when available.

3.2. Develop and adopt a Marine Mammal Management plan (MMMP) in order to reduce the potential adverse effects of vessels, especially within known sensitive marine areas, as identified in Criterion 2.2.

Note: See Annex 6-B.

3.3 Study what is/are the fleet’s most relevant vessel(s) in terms of underwater noise emissions by working with ports, engineering societies, classification societies or scientific research projects to estimate noise emissions. A ranking could be made across the entire fleet.

Note: e.g., “relevant” could mean:

• Oldest vessel(s) as far as their life duration is sufficient to implement quieting technology
• A series of sisterships
• Vessel(s) having the longest transit time in areas important for marine mammals
• Vessel(s) planning to undertake a drydock or technical stop within 2/3 years
• Vessel(s) whose retrofitting of URN device(s) is/are the most feasible

It is up to the ship owner to justify why the selected vessel(s) would be the most relevant for this study.

4.1 Incorporate applicable vessel quieting technologies during retrofits and new vessel construction, including for the vessel(s) identified in 3.3, by increasing propeller diameter and/or number of blades, optimizing wake and inflow, reducing excitation into the steel structure, etc.

Note: Refer to published documents like the IMO and the SNAME MVEP Guidelines, available in the Members section of the Green Marine website. This criterion is applicable only for ship owners ordering/designing new vessels (keel laid after Jan 2018) or conducting retrofits of propulsion systems or other equipment that contributes significantly to underwater noise.

4.2 Support/collaborate on scientific research on underwater noise leading to the estimation of relative ship noise levels for at least one vessel in the company's fleet.

Note: Collaboration with a (bio)acoustician is essential to obtain reliable data. The estimation(s) of relative ship noise can be determined as per IMO 2014 guidelines or a classification society’s referential.

4.3 Train the bridge crew members on board with an expertise certification on marine mammals to avoid cetaceans.

Note: This certification can be a recognized Marine Mammal Observer training or a customized in-house training developed with a relevant expert.

If there are no trained crew members on board, then an observer must be on board instead.

Further requirement applying only to commercial or service vessels in transit time sailing faster than 10 knots and not using full wind propulsion:

Fulfill one of the following 3 criteria:

4.4 If it has acoustic benefits, demonstrate that at least one vessel within the company’s fleet voluntarily and systematically implements at least a 10% speed reduction compared to BAU, in at least one (as defined in the MMMP) Cetacean Critical Habitat, or any other area identified by port or governmental authorities, and demonstrate no increase of usual speed during the rest of the voyage.

Note: AIS data, bridge logbook, or equivalent type of proof could be used for the demonstration.

Note: BAU is the average commercial speed of the year (n-x) before ship owners apply for Level 4.
For vessels equipped with a controllable pitch propeller (CPP), the ship owner must prove with documentation that the speed reduction or other engine/propeller setting point is the best setting for noise reduction impact.

OR

4.5 Obtain a quiet class notation for at least one vessel within the company’s fleet.

OR

4.6 For at least one vessel within the company’s fleet, implement at least two noise reduction technologies in two distinct categories as listed below:

1. Propeller noise
2. Wake flow modification
3. Supplementary treatment and air lubrification system (ALS)
4. Machinery treatment
5. Other mitigation technology

Note: Refer to Annex 6C for the details within each category and related noise reduction technologies.

5.1 Support/collaborate on scientific research on underwater noise allowing the estimation of relative ship noise levels for at least 3 vessels or 15% of the fleet.

Note: Collaboration with a (bio)acoustician is typically essential to obtain reliable data. IMO guidelines could be used as well.

Further requirement applying only to commercial or service vessels in transit time sailing faster than 10 knots and not using full wind propulsion:

Fulfill one of the following 3 criteria:

5.2 If it has acoustic benefits, demonstrate that 15% of the fleet’s vessels (representing at least 10% of the gross tonnage, with a minimum of 3 vessels) voluntarily and systematically implement at least a 10% speed reduction compared to BAU, in at least one Important Marine Mammal Area, Candidate Important Marine Mammal Area (as defined in the MMMP), Cetacean Critical Habitat, or any other area identified by port or governmental authorities; and, demonstrate no increase of usual speed during the rest of the voyage.

Note: AIS data, bridge logbook, or equivalent type of proof could be used for the demonstration.

Note: BAU is the average commercial speed of the year (n-x) before ship owners apply for Level 5.
For vessels equipped with CPP, the ship owner must prove with documentation that the speed reduction or other engine/propeller setting point is the best setting for noise reduction impact.

OR

5.3 Obtain a quiet class notation for 15% of the fleet’s vessels (representing at least 10% of the gross tonnage, with a minimum of 3 vessels).

OR

5.4 For at least 15% of the fleet’s vessels (representing at least 10% of the gross tonnage, with a minimum of 3 vessels), implement at least two noise reduction technologies in two distinct categories as listed below:

1. Propeller noise
2. Wake flow modification
3. Supplementary treatment and air lubrification system (ALS)
4. Machinery treatment
5. Other mitigation technology

Note: Refer to Annex 6C for details within each category and related noise reduction technologies