IMIS

The dataset contains underwater acoustic recordings and vessel labels derived from AIS (Automatic Identification System) data, collected in the Belgian Part of the North Sea (BPNS) between 20 January 2022 and 5 November 2022. Recordings were made using hydrophones deployed at two stations, Gardencity and Grafton, both located near busy shipping routes. The acoustic data are provided as FLAC files, each approximately 10 minutes and 13 seconds long, covering continuous monitoring periods. Vessel metadata are included in an accompanying Excel file, where each row corresponds to an AIS event. The AIS data were collected within a ±15 km range of each hydrophone and include the following fields: ship_number longitude, latitude event_time type (ship type) distance (to the hydrophone station) msg_type_description sog (Speed Over Ground) The dataset originates from the LifeWatch Broadband Acoustic Network and spans multiple non-consecutive recording days across the full monitoring period. It provides a valuable resource for: Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) research Characterization of vessel noise Training and evaluation of machine learning models for vessel activity classification and vessel–hydrophone distance prediction This dataset was compiled as part of the research presented in IEEE JSTARS (DOI: 10.1109/JSTARS.2025.3593779 ).