MARIN invites Green Marine members to take part in underwater noise mitigation research

The Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) is starting a joint industry project (JIP) later this year called Bubbles 2 JIP to gain a better understanding of the working mechanisms of bubble screens in reducing underwater noise during offshore construction work.

With the Bubbles 2 JIP, MARIN is building on the knowledge gained from the initial Bubbles Joint Industry Project done from 2020 to 2023 on the effectiveness of bubble screens for noise mitigation in offshore installation projects. The research involved nine partners from industry, universities and research institutes. It included tests at the laboratory scale and medium scale to develop and validate numerical models and bubble and noise measurement techniques.

The new research will pick up where COVID-19 posed project limitations, as well as examine current developments in pile driving techniques, noise mitigation techniques, and rules and regulations. It will also focus more on the operational use of bubble screens to understand and predict the working principles in various operational situations to learn how to use the screens more effectively and with greater energy efficiencies.

Finding ways to curb underwater noise during the execution of larger wind park installation projects at seas is required to meet various sound emission regulations and to sustainably minimize noise impacts as the amount of offshore construction is expected to increase in the coming years.

MARIN is inviting Green Marine members to find out more and possibly take part in the project which is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2024 and last three years. The JIP is still open for partners and its scope proposal.

Participating Green Marine ports that engage in this type of research projects fulfil the environmental certification program’s Underwater Noise Criterion 4.5: Support/collaborate on scientific research that includes the measurement of underwater radiated noise.

For more information and project updates, visit the Bubbles 2 JIP webpage.