Onboard ship noise: Acoustic comfort in cabins

The acoustic comfort in passenger cabins on board six passenger ships is analyzed in this paper. The overall noise inside cabins is first evaluated, then the effect of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) is investigated and several criteria, typical from the civil field (Noise Criterion, Room Criterion, etc.), are applied and compared. The effect of different operative conditions in terms of revolutions per minute of engines, propellers and generators, of propeller pitch and of engine power is investigated as well, highlighting the differences in terms of measured noise and of indicators performances. The results of the study suggest that the current normative framework and regulations about noise on board ships, based on dB(A) limits only, could effectively be revised to take into account spectral components, whose effect would otherwise be neglected.