Kyhn, L.A., Tougaard, J. & Sveegaard, S. 2011: Underwater noise from the drillship Stena Forth in Disko West, Baffin Bay, Greenland. National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Denmark. 30 pp. – NERI Technical Report No. 838. http://www.dmu.dk/Pub/FR838.pdf
Capricorn Greenland Exploration 1 Limited made the first drillings for oil in Greenland in the license block Sigguk in summer-autumn 2010. To accurately assess the effect a drill operation may have on the surrounding environment, the emitted noise levels must be taken into account, since noise potentially may affect marine life, such as fish, seals and whales. NERI was therefore asked to make sound recordings in order to quantify the emitted noise from the drill ship Stena Forth during operation.
The recordings represent a random sample of the noise emitted by Stena Forth during both active drilling and during maintenance activities on the drillship. The noise levels were recorded at two depths and at distances from 500 m to 38 km from the rig. Ambient noise recordings were made at a distance of 316 km from Stena Forth and 211 km from the semisubmersible Stena Don.
Both drilling and maintenance noise were readily discernable underwater, and resulted in marked increases in sound pressure levels throughout the entire frequency spectrum 20 Hz to well above 10 kHz and with clearly discernible peaks below 500 Hz out to 38 km from the rig. The Stena Forth is thus a substantial noise source in Baffin Bay both during maintenance work in relation to typical vessel types and during drilling where the source level corresponds to that of a large tanker.
