Proyecto LIFE PortSounds

Description and project objetives

The LIFE PortSounds project aims to reduce the impact of underwater noise in the Port of Cartagena, and began with a meeting held by the partners of this initiative that aims to advance to be a benchmark in underwater noise measurement in the Mediterranean and in Europe.

With a budget of 2,135,577 euros, financed at 54.99% by the LIFE Program of the European Union, through the Ministry for Ecological Transition, Port Authority and its partners, the Naval and Sea Technology Center, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, they have established the roadmap through the objectives and actions to be developed that will allow progress in the challenges set and provide solutions to balance maritime traffic and the marine ecosystem, cetaceans, combining innovation and sustainability. The project will last from September 1, 2021 to December 31, 2025

70 percent of world maritime traffic passes through the Port of Cartagena, local professional fishing boats also navigate and, in addition, Cartagena receives part of the maritime passage that connects the Peninsula with the Balearic Islands. These factors have increased exponentially in recent years, being the main source of continuous noise in the local marine environment.

For this, the objectives of the project are to carry out a characterization, surveillance and evaluation of the levels of underwater noise in the area of the Port of Cartagena to reduce underwater noise pollution generated by maritime traffic, a mapping of underwater noise levels and the presence of cetaceans, the development of an underwater noise management tool and finally the implementation of mitigation measures and the evaluation of their impact on said populations of cetaceans, being innovative factors that will make the port of Cartagena address made its strategy of being the most sustainable Port in Europe.

The Port of Cartagena will carry out the transfer of this knowledge and its replication in other ports, leading the Noise strategy in Europe.

It must be remembered that the Port of Cartagena has been working on studies on underwater noise for years together with the universities through the "Cátedra Mare Nostrum de Medio Ambiente", and with the collaboration of the "Centro Tecnológico Naval y del Mar", but they have been studies in areas more localized. With this project, a more ambitious and long-term objective is pursued, which helps other ports to develop sustainability strategies in their waters, promoting a more sustainable business model for future generations.