Shadow Fleet Fakes Ship Locations to Dodge Drones and Sanctions
A bizarre incident occurred in which a Russian-flagged oil tanker appeared in two places at the same time. Ship location data showed it near Türkiye’s Bosporus Strait, but at the same time, the same vessel’s position was transmitted from another area about 800 kilometers away. Analysts say the so-called “shadow fleet” that handles Russia‘s oil exports is changing how it manipulates ship location data to evade not only Western sanctions but also Ukraine’s drone attacks.
The Russian-flagged oil tanker Pirop is a prime example. On Aug. 27, the vessel transmitted location data indicating it was near Türkiye’s Bosporus Strait. But at the same time, it also sent out data showing it was along Türkiye’s coast about 800 kilometers away.
The Secret of Dual Location Data Revealed in the Bosporus Strait
This phenomenon is related to “spoofing,” which manipulates the location data of the Automatic Identification System (AIS). AIS is a system that allows a ship to transmit its position and navigation information to nearby vessels and control authorities.
Until now, Russia‘s shadow fleet has manipulated AIS information to evade Western sanctions. Recently, however, instead of showing only a false location, some have been detected transmitting the real and fake positions at the same time.
In particular, dual transmissions appeared when passing through the Bosporus Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. After Turkish authorities required vessels transiting the strait to transmit location data, some tankers briefly activated AIS to send their real positions while continuing to broadcast separate false positions.
Ballinger also found indications that several vessels appeared to use the same devices and software. Normally, because of waves and currents, a ship’s coordinates should shift slightly even while at anchor, but these tankers repeatedly sent exactly the same coordinates. Notably, the false positions were all fixed at 8:13 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Citing the fact that these features appeared across multiple ships, Ballinger raised the possibility of organized manipulation of location data within the shadow fleet.
From Drone Attacks to Flag Changes: Russia’s Maritime Transport Network is Being Reorganized
Analysts say the backdrop to Russian tankers changing how they manipulate location data is the expansion of Ukraine’s maritime drone attacks. The two countries have recently been trading strikes in the Black Sea. Ukraine’s government claimed late last month that it had attacked more than 300 Russian vessels over 11 weeks. Beyond evading Western sanctions, the goal of hiding actual routes to avoid drone strikes appears to have grown.
Brigitte Diaconu, research director at Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a U.K.-based maritime data analysis firm, told the FT this was “a new behavior observed among sanctioned shadow fleet tankers operating in the area.” She added it is likely part of a trend in which Russia is moving to protect its vessels as the European Union (EU) steps up responses to sanctioned ships and Ukraine increases the intensity of attacks aimed at disrupting Russian maritime operations.
Original Article: Russia shadow fleet fakes ship locations to dodge drones and sanctions — Chosun