NAVISON report released

The NAVIs SONus (NAVISON) report is the first pan-European report to provide historical and future forecast underwater noise data for all European seas.

Underwater noise from ships is recognised as a stress factor for marine life, particularly for cetaceans like whales and dolphins, who use sound to communicate with each other. It can harm marine biodiversity and cause behavioural changes in animals.

Using a single methodology, NAVISON maps underwater noise levels in all European seas for the first time, providing a comprehensive, pan-European overview, and allowing quantitative like-for-like comparisons of shipping contributions to ambient sound between regions, vessel categories, years, and forecast scenarios.

According to the report, the areas that currently have the highest sound pressure level (SPL) values in Europe are: parts of the English Channel; the Strait of Gibraltar; parts of the Adriatic Sea; the Dardanelles Strait; and some regions in the Baltic Sea.

The lowest values are recorded in the northwest part of the northeast Atlantic Ocean, particularly around the Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea, the southern part of Mediterranean Sea, and the east of Black Sea.

NAVISON also uses forecast sound maps to predict the future impact of maritime technology and operational measures on the mitigation of underwater noise caused by shipping for 2023, 2040, and 2050, under four different scenarios.

Access the NAVISON report in the link below.