Since the ship is designed to be in operation all year round, the owner required a high level of comfort in order to optimise the performance of the crew on duty. Thus it was decided early in the project that extensive efforts were to be made to obtain a very quiet ship. Noise reducing measures were applied by Copenhagen based Odegaard & Danneskiold - Samsoe A/S both at the source side and in the design of the accommodation.

At the source side, low-noise components were given the highest priority. These were:

that the noise reduction measures comprise all types of noise sources<$>that low-noise types of machinery have been selected<$>that additional reduction has been obtained by measures such as resilient mounting

As to the design of accommodation, all noise radiating surfaces were taken into account. The floors are, for example, either floating floor or viscoelastically damped floors. Even the consoles in the wheelhouse and in the control room have been flexibly mounted.

The floating floors are of the modern high insulation type having a viscoelastic layer included in the top layer.

The result of the systematic noise reduction programme has been a very low noise level in all areas of the ship. Typical results in five areas on board the ship show noise levels 8 to 15dB lower than the standard IMO maximum noise level. This notable result has been achieved according to the owner's wishes, based on detailed prediction of the noise level at all stages of the design and building phases of the vessel, making it possible to optimise acoustically the noise reducing measures and obtain a cost effective result.

The excellent results on the Havornen are a good example of what can be done on small ships, demonstrating that it is possible to comply with requirements for low-noise trawlers, inspection ships, pilot boats and similar.

MJInformation No: 20517