Every day, billions of dollars in maritime trade flows through a shadow fleet of vessels designed to evade sanctions. Compliance teams face an impossible task: checking six different government websites, in six different formats, updated on six different schedules. We built FleetLeaks to fix that.
Who We Are
FleetLeaks is an independent maritime sanctions intelligence platform providing free, consolidated access to vessel designation data from six major jurisdictions.
We built FleetLeaks because compliance officers, maritime insurers, trade finance professionals, and shipping operators shouldn’t need to check six different government websites to screen a single vessel.
What We Do
We aggregate and normalize official sanctions designations targeting Russia-related maritime activity from:
- United States (OFAC)
- European Union Sanctions Map
- United Kingdom (OFSI)
- Canada Global Affairs
- Australia DFAT
- New Zealand MFAT
Our automated pipeline updates daily at 00:00 UTC, tracking additions, removals, and changes across all 792+ currently designated vessels.
Why FleetLeaks Exists
Maritime sanctions enforcement is critical to international security and compliance. But accessing this information is fragmented:
- Government lists use different formats and identifiers
- No single database consolidates all jurisdictions
- Historical changes are difficult to track
- IMO validation is inconsistent
FleetLeaks solves this by providing:
- Single searchable database across all six jurisdictions
- Daily automated updates with full change history
- Standardized vessel data with validated IMO numbers
- Free, public access for compliance and due diligence
- Transparent methodology with full source attribution
Our Methodology
Data Collection
Every 24 hours, our automated pipelines fetch official sanctions lists from all six government sources via their public APIs and datasets.
Normalization & Validation
- IMO validation: Verify format and check-digit validity
- Name standardization: Clean vessel names, remove special characters
- Duplicate detection: Merge vessels across jurisdictions by IMO number
- Entity linking: Connect vessels to sanctioning authorities and programs
Quality Assurance
- Cross-reference vessel data with maritime registries when available
- Flag inconsistencies (e.g., invalid IMO numbers, missing data)
- Maintain complete designation history and audit trail
- Manual spot-checks on high-profile designations
Publishing
Changes are pushed to our database and displayed in:
- Vessel Database: Searchable by IMO, name, flag, type
- Sanctions Timeline: Chronological designation history
- Intelligence Feed: Analytical articles on trends and patterns
Data Accuracy & Limitations
What We Provide
- Consolidated mirror of official government sanctions lists
- Historical tracking of designations, updates, and removals
- Normalized data for easy searching and analysis
What We Don’t Provide
- Legal advice or compliance recommendations
- Verification of vessel ownership or beneficial ownership
- Real-time AIS tracking or vessel location data
- Guarantees of completeness or accuracy
Always verify critical decisions at the original source. We provide links to official government listings for every vessel.
Use Cases
FleetLeaks is used by:
- Compliance Officers – Screen vessels against consolidated sanctions lists
- Maritime Insurers – Check P&I exposure to sanctioned vessels
- Trade Finance – Verify vessel sanctions status before financing
- Shipping Operators – Monitor fleet and counterparty exposure
- Researchers & Journalists – Analyze shadow fleet trends and patterns
- Law Firms – Due diligence on maritime transactions
Free Access & Future Sustainability
FleetLeaks is currently free to use with no restrictions. We don’t sell data, offer paid tiers, or show advertisements.
Running a platform like this costs money – servers, data processing, maintenance. As traffic grows, we’ll need to explore sustainable revenue options. Possibilities might include:
- Sponsorships from compliance or maritime tech companies
- API access for commercial integrations
- Premium features for enterprise users
- Contextual advertising
Our commitment: The core vessel sanctions database will always remain freely searchable. We built this to solve a real problem, not to get rich.
💡 Interested in supporting FleetLeaks? If your organization would benefit from sponsoring or partnering with us, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch.
Contact & Transparency
Have questions about our data or methodology? See our Contact page.
Report data inaccuracies or suggest improvements – we’re continuously refining our processes.
For security vulnerabilities, please use our responsible disclosure process outlined on the contact page.
FleetLeaks FAQ
What is FleetLeaks in plain English?
FleetLeaks is a free public tool that tracks ships under sanctions and shows their recent locations on a live map. It connects official sanctions lists to real vessel movements so anyone can see who’s complying — and who isn’t.
Why does this matter to non-experts?
Sanctions only work if they’re enforced. FleetLeaks turns hard-to-read government lists into visible, verifiable ship activity. That transparency helps journalists, NGOs, and regular people hold violators to account.
Who is behind FleetLeaks?
An independent developer (pseudonymous for operational security). No corporate funding, no political affiliation — the goal is open data and public accountability.
Where does the data come from?
Sanctions data is synchronized daily from official sources — OFAC (US), EU, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Each vessel is then enriched with AIS (Automatic Identification System) and other open maritime databases for context.
Is the map real-time?
The map shows live or recently updated AIS positions where available. Sanctions data refreshes daily; timestamps on each vessel indicate when the last update occurred.
What’s different from commercial tools?
Enterprise platforms exist, but they’re expensive and closed. FleetLeaks makes comparable visibility public so journalists and researchers can investigate without paywalls.
Is FleetLeaks political?
FleetLeaks isn’t political; it’s factual. Many tracked vessels are sanctioned due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, but the approach applies to any sanctioned entity. Transparency is accountability, not activism.
How accurate is it?
FleetLeaks relies on public data. AIS gaps, spoofing, and delays do occur — especially among deceptive actors — so each record includes timestamps and source context to help you judge reliability.
Can I use the data for my own research?
Yes, within non-commercial terms. Please cite FleetLeaks.com. For collaboration or special use, contact us.
I build OSINT tools — how can our datasets complement each other?
Lightweight IMO-keyed enrichment (e.g., risk/“sketchiness” scores ↔ sanctions status), small correlation snapshots, or simple alert feeds. Contact us with your ideas.
How can I help?
Share FleetLeaks with colleagues, suggest new data sources, report corrections, or contribute visualizations/translations. For inquiries: Contact Us.
What’s next?
Planned: expanded ownership mapping, flag-change timelines, and deeper harmonization with other OSINT projects — moving toward a unified, open sanctions dataset for maritime verification.
Legal Disclaimer
FleetLeaks is a comprehensive tracking service. All vessel designations, sanctions data, and ownership information are sourced from official government publications and publicly available records. We aggregate and present this information but do not verify, endorse, or guarantee its accuracy.
Not legal advice. Information provided on this site does not constitute legal, financial, or compliance advice. Users should consult appropriate qualified legal counsel before making business decisions. For authoritative sources, see our Data Sources page.
Accuracy notice: While we strive for accuracy, vessel information changes frequently. Sanctions designations, ownership structures, and vessel particulars may be updated by authorities without notice. Last database update: July 18, 2026
FleetLeaks maintains the most comprehensive, up-to-date database of sanctioned vessels worldwide.