Workshop Links Ship Efficiency And Underwater Noise
On 6 and 7 November 2025, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), together with the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloNoise Partnership, hosted the 2025 IMO Workshop on the Relationship between Ship Energy Efficiency (EE) and Underwater Radiated Noise (URN) at IMO Headquarters in London. The workshop brought together an engaged community of shipowners, researchers, regulators, class societies, NGOs, and technology innovators.
What stood out clearly was how far the sector has progressed since the first workshop held in 2023 (more information at https://www.imo.org/en/about/events/pages/urn-workshop-2023.aspx).
The programme addressed the interactions between URN reduction measures and ship energy efficiency, including both design-stage and operational measures, and highlighted that certain measures may provide co-benefits, while others may require case-specific evaluation to understand potential trade-offs.
Presentations included energy saving devices and propeller and hull form optimization, electric and hybrid propulsion applications, voluntary vessel speed reduction and routing approaches near sensitive areas, predictive modelling tools for identifying priority areas for mitigation, measurement approaches, including fixed hydrophone systems and simplified onboard methodologies, and recognition and incentive schemes, including port-based programmes.
Discussions underlined the importance of integrating URN considerations early in the ship design process, improving access to cost-effective measurement, strengthening data comparability, and developing practical guidance to support implementation of Revised Guidelines for the reduction of underwater radiated noise from shipping to address adverse impacts on marine life (MEPC.1/Circ.906/Rev.1) and the URN Action Plan.
The GEF-UNDP-IMO GloNoise Partnership presented progress with capacity-building activities in Lead Pilot Countries and Twinning Partners. This includes work on baseline and environmental risk assessments and the development of the GloNoise Toolkit, which aims to support a more consistent approach to assessment, decision-making and knowledge exchange on URN. These efforts are helping national authorities and stakeholders understand their starting point, identify priorities and share solutions that can work in different regional and national contexts.
Presentations and recordings from the workshop are now available at 2025 Workshop on the relationship between ship energy efficiency and underwater radiated noise and on the IMO YouTube channel, so that a wider community can benefit from the examples, tools, and experiences shared during the event.
About the project
The Global Partnership for Mitigation of Underwater Noise from Shipping (GloNoise Partnership) project is part of broader efforts by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to address the impacts of underwater noise on marine life. The project is funded by GEF and officially entered its implementation phase with the signing of the final version of the project document (ProDoc) in December 2023. It includes nine beneficiary countries, with six Lead Pilot Countries (LPCs): Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, India, South Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago, and three Twinning Partner Countries: Georgia, Madagascar, and Malaysia.
For more information, please contact glonoise@imo.org and the project website.
Words and Photos by IMO.