The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST; Lee Hyi Seung, President) announced its acquisition of Korea’s first accreditation as an organization measuring underwater radiated noise from ships by France’s Bureau Veritas (BV).

KIOST was the first organization in Korea measuring underwater radiated noise from ships to be accredited by the Norwegian register of shipping (Det Norske Veritas, DNV) in 2021, which was followed by its accreditation from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in 2022.

France’s Bureau Veritas (BV) was founded in 1828 to inspect the stability of ships. It is a global network of over 580 branches in more than 150 countries responsible for the classification, safety and quality control of ships, aircraft, and offshore structures.

Underwater radiated noise from ships is considered a major cause of disturbance to marine ecosystems due to an increase in ocean transport and growth in vessel size. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) formally discussed guidelines for the regulation of underwater radiated noise for merchant ships in 2014. Last year, it revised the guidelines to expand the scope of regulation to all ships.

In this context, classification societies around the world, including Korea, have standardized ways to measure and analyze underwater radiated noise from ships and have developed their own rules in assigning ratings to ships. Currently, they are working to integrate the standards of each classification society into a single set of standards.

As a way to actively respond to IMO regulations, KIOST has, since 2014, introduced equipment that measures and analyzes underwater noise radiated from ships, and continues to conduct related research. In addition, research is underway to build a test bed from which to continuously observe underwater radiation noise at major Korean ports in order to collaborate with large shipyards.

President Lee Hyi Seung said, “With this accreditation, KIOST will be able to measure the underwater radiation noise of large ships built in domestic shipyards. We will continue to expand the scope of certification to Lloyd's Register, which has significant influence in Europe.”