Recent Legislation in Europe on permissible noise levels in commercial shipping has heightened concern and increased research efforts to solve noise‐control problems. Technisch Physische Dienst TNO‐TH, Delft, Netherlands, has organized an international symposium of invited speakers on this topic in order to encourage dissemnation of new research results. In this summary of the conference by this participant, some of the more significant research results will be discussed. Results will be selected with regard to their expected significance for influencing the design of new commercial ships or modifications of existing ships.