A NOISY containership has left a trail of complaints across Australian and New Zealand ports and apologies to disturbed residents of port communities.

Safeen Prime is operated by ANL/CMA CGM. The ship was reportedly contracted by ANL to increase cargo capacity for New Zealand’s regional importers and exporters.

Late last month, NSW Ports issued a statement apologising to residents around Port Botany who were disturbed by noise emitted from the port.

NSW Ports’ environment manager engaged with residents to identify the source of the noise, and traced it back to Safeen Prime.

“The vessel left Port Botany on Thursday evening and noise levels immediately subsided,” NSW Ports said in a statement.

It said it had been communicating with the vessel operator to address the noise issue prior to the vessel’s return to Port Botany.

This week, a similar message was issued by Port Nelson in New Zealand, suggesting ports across NZ were collaborating to tackle noise generated from ships, namely Safeen Prime.

Port Nelson chief executive Hugh Morrison said the regular service and increased shipping capacity had been of benefit to the region, but the port would need to work to reduce noise from operations.

“ANL has been a long-standing partner for Port Nelson and its community, servicing the region for over 20 years,” Mr Morrison said.

“The additional capacity resulting from Safeen Prime will highly benefit the region’s importer and exporters; however, the consequence is a vessel that requires additional design to mitigate the noise it generates.

“We are working with the shipping line to rectify the issue, and a plan has been put in place.”

The issues appears to have brought the Australasian port community together to deal with the unwanted noise.

Ports are reportedly working together to share information and experiences within their communities, and even working with acoustic consultants to address the issue with the shipping line.

The statement from Port Nelson indicates the shipping line and ship owner have committed to installing a reactive silencer.

Port Nelson said it requested the measure be implemented as soon as possible, and that ports are now waiting for the shipping line to confirm the timeframe for the reactive silencer.

In the meantime, according to the New Zealand port, the ship has modified funnels on the generators to reduce noise and has implemented operational procedures designed to reduce noise levels until the reactive silencer is installed.

“Reducing noise levels from the Port is a priority for Port Nelson,” Mr Morrison said.

“We will continue to monitor the noise impacts from Safeen Prime and assess the temporary mitigation measures during its upcoming visits.”

ANL last Friday issued a service update unrelated to the noise but indicative of another issue onboard.

“We regret to advise that due to crew shortages faced on Safeen Prime 2214, operations have been delayed while berthed at Auckland port,” the company said in a notice advising of the revised schedule.”

ANL did not respond to DCN’s request for comment on this article.