All is quiet for London’s noisy summer

The London Port Health Authority, Transport for London and the operators of vessels on the river are working together to ensure that all craft are as quiet and environmentally-friendly as possible.

UK exhaust specialist Halyard, has created a custom designed solution to reduce noise emitted by a boat which was originally named by the Queen and which will participate in this summer’s Thames Jubilee Pageant. MV Millennium of Londonisone of a fleet of fourteen vessels owned and operated by City Cruises, London’s leading river cruise company. Built in 1996, MV Millennium of London can carry up to 350 passengers on sightseeing tours from Westminster Pier to Greenwich during the day, with dinner cruises at night.

As one of the older vessels in City Cruises fleet, MV Millennium of London had been scheduled for complete renovation in time for the 2012 summer celebrations. One of the requirements of the refit, in addition to interior renovations, was to find a way to reduce the noise emitted from the engines and generators.

Halyard was commissioned to design and manufacture the solution. Working in the confined space around the original engines, Halyard’s design team had to ensure the whole system would fit into the existing infrastructure, which was successfully achieved with only minimal modifications made to the bulkheads.

Noise readings taken before renovation had registered in excess of 90 decibels on the main engines and generator sets. After the new silencer system was installed, this was recorded at just 65 decibels, a significant reduction. Noise is generally reckoned to halve with every 10 decibels, so Halyard’s system has changed the noise level by some 80%.

Richard Bain, fleet operations manager, said City Cruises had chosen Halyard to carry out this project after the company had completed a successful silencer system for another vessel in its fleet, MV Mayflower Garden. He said, “The new systems fitted to Millennium of Londonhave dramatically reduced engine noise. This has improved crew morale and ultimately our customers’ experience whilst aboard.”