Port Authority of New South Wales

For cruise vessels visiting White Bay
 A Noise Mitigation Strategy has been developed and is being implemented to manage noise from cruise ships at White Bay Cruise Terminal. The Strategy includes of initiatives that aim to minimise the impact of cruise ships on the local community, including:

• a noise attenuation program providing mitigation treatments for residences in the vicinity of White Bay Cruise Terminal and White Bay berth 4;
  
  
• a policy for ships that cause excessive noise from vessel operations and non-safety related noise including on-deck music and public announcements, including a system of consequences for breaches of the policy; and
  
  
• continuous, real-time noise logging to monitor noise levels and guide ongoing noise management

For non-cruise vessels visiting Glebe Island and White Bay

• Port Authority has developed a Port Noise Policy and Vessel Noise Operating Protocol for Glebe Island and White Bay that aims to manage noise from commercial shipping in a way that addresses impacts on the local community, while recognising and optimising its ongoing, long-term status as a working port. The Policy is the first of its kind in Australia.
  
  
• Port Authority is a Board Member of Project Neptunes, a global port development and operations sustainability initiative that has developed and recently released a universal measurement protocol, guidelines for noise labelling of vessels, and a best practice guide for noise abatement measures in order to facilitate noise reductions from berthed ships.
  
  
• Port Authority has committed to installing and supplying Shore Power, sourced from certified renewable energy, to the Bays Port Precinct by 2024. The introduction of Shore Power could see a reduction in noise from cruise ships of up to 10dB.

Cruise ships berthing in Sydney Harbour have been issued with a Direction to use either low sulphur) fuel or an alternative measure that achieves an equivalent outcome. These Directions have been issued by The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) since December 2016 in accordance with subsection 246(1)(b) of the Navigation Act 2012. For more information, please visit Sydney Harbour cruise ship emissions (amsa.gov.au)
 
Non-cruise ships are also required to use low sulphur fuel. As of 1 January 2020, to reduce exhaust emissions of sulphur oxides and other particulate matter from ships and improve air quality, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) introduced global shipping directives. These regulations mean that all ships in Australian waters, either at berth or at sea, and regardless of size, are required to only use fuel that meets the global limit on sulphur content. For more information, please visit Compliance with low sulphur 2020 (amsa.gov.au)

AMSA regulates emissions from all ships for the purpose of protecting the marine environment and human health from air pollution and ensuring international emission standards are met and AMSA inspectors regularly conduct checks of ships visiting Sydney Harbour to ensure compliance. Please go to: Sydney Harbour cruise ship emissions (amsa.gov.au) for more information.

Port Authority asks vessels visiting our ports to manage light emissions by avoiding the use of unnecessary light at night to mitigate spill into night sky or in the direction of neighbouring properties, where safe and possible.

Arrival and departure times are determined based on a number of factors including operational requirements, scheduling conflicts, availability and coordinating the various maritime industry partners that assist with bringing vessels into and out of port safely. This includes tug operators, marine pilots and mooring line services.

If you have a complaint or enquiry about activities at our ports, please call our 24/7 community enquiries and complaints line on 02 9296 4962. Service NSW manages Port Authority's complaints and enquiries line on a 24/7 basis. This ensures complaints are managed in real-time at any time of the day or night.