The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) hosted a successful two-day Underwater Radiated Noise (URN) Toolkit Workshop in Cape Town, South Africa on 26 – 27 March 2026
The IMO Glonoise URN Toolkit Workshop is one of the initiatives that affirm South Africa’s leadership on the African continent in tackling underwater noise pollution from ships. The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) serves as the national focal point, spearheading the country’s technical, regulatory, and scientific contributions to global efforts aimed at reducing underwater noise impacts on marine ecosystems.
Delivered under the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloNoise Partnership, the workshop successfully brought together biologists, engineers, and maritime authorities from South Africa and other African countres including Madagascar and Tanzania with the aim to foster regional cooperation on reducing the noise impacts from shipping.
The first day of the session focussed on the revised IMO Guidelines, introduction to URN basics, and an introduction to the URN Toolkit. The second day focussed on a more Practical Application of the RAINDROP and RAINDROP Lite Tool.
South Africa is proud to be the Lead Pilot Country in Africa and in ensuring that South Africa lays a firm foundation for its Environmental Risk and Impact Assessments to be conducted under the project, using sound science to help inform future regulatory frameworks.