1.1 Concern has been raised that a significant
portion of the underwater noise generated by human activity may be
related to commercial shipping. The international community recognizes
that underwater-radiated noise from commercial ships may have both
short and long-term negative consequences on marine life, especially
marine mammals.
1.2 It is important to recognize that both the
technical and cost-effectiveness of measures considered, either individually
or in combination, will be strongly dependent on the design, operational
parameters, and mandatory requirements relevant for a particular ship.
A successful strategy to reduce radiated noise should consider interactions
and contributions from measures provided to achieve other objectives
such as reduction of onboard noise and improvements in energy efficiency.
1.3 When efforts have been made to mitigate underwater
noise, as far as reasonable and practical, evaluation should be undertaken
to determine the success or otherwise of ship noise reduction efforts
and to guide and enhance future activities at noise reduction. Such
evaluation can include forms of radiated-noise measurements, simulations
or other ways of data gathering.