What is with... that loud droning noise at night?

Sometimes, on an otherwise peaceful night in Dartmouth South, there is a noise.

No, I am not talking about the ambulances that go back and forth to Dartmouth General, nor am I talking about the fireworks that inevitably cause someone to post “Was that gunshots?” on the local Facebook group. I am talking about something different, more nebulous: A hum. Every once in a while, there is a low, persistent, rumbling drone, seeming to come from the harbour. It’s subtle enough that you might be able to ignore it, but loud enough that it disrupts the silence.

This sound has been occurring, on and off, for at least a year, and according to a neighbour who made a noise complaint, the most likely explanation is a ship that occasionally docks at COVE. The ship has an issue connecting to shore power so it keeps its engines running constantly while docked. I reached out to COVE to confirm this, but had not received a response from them at the time of publication.

The International Maritime Organization has rules limiting noise aboard ships, but these rules only apply to ships built after 2012. And even if the ship operated within these noise limits, the laws of physics mean that the sound may still reach us. “Sound travels well bouncing off the surface of the water,” said Emma Carline, acoustic algorithm developer. She added that “low frequencies can bend around corners… you’ll probably hear that further away.”

The geography of Dartmouth South means that for many of us, there is little obstructing sound from the harbour from reaching our homes. Is this just a reality of living in a maritime city, or should we push back against the noise?