UN wants to quieten the humming
The Seven Seas are too noisy. The United Nations wants to do more to counteract underwater noise generated by commercial transport ships. In a three-year test phase, states are set to exchange experiences – with the aim of reducing the humming of ships in international waters, which threatens the life of marine animals.
UN-News, a United Nations news portal reported recently that the UN agency that regulates international shipping will henceforth increasingly focus its attention on underwater noise too.
To reduce this noise the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
has issued guidelines and launched a concomitant action plan. An experience-building phase is currently underway, in which the member states are set to exchange ideas as well as potential approaches over a period of three years.
Hum from ships threaten marine life
“We now have an action plan to develop binding mechanisms and learn lessons from them,” said IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez.
Voluntary guidelines have been in force since 2014 and were adapted in 2023. They contain recommendations to help shipping lines reduce underwater noise. Although the ocean has never been calm, the hum of ships has grown substantially in recent decades, the UN news agency reported.
“For many marine animals, this growing flood of noise is more than just a nuisance – it threatens their very survival,” according to Dominguez, who believes it is time to take stock to find out “what has been achieved and what needs to be done.”