EXCLUSIVE: Over 210 Tankers and Ships Anchored Outside Strait of Hormuz – Experiencing AIS Transponder Interference
Ships travel the seas using the Automatic Identification System (AIS). It’s a satellite tracking system that uses transponders to continuously broadcast a ship’s location, type, length, and so on. Currently, over 210 tankers and container ships are anchored outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Through this waterway choke point (Hormuz) flows 20% of the global oil, along with large volumes of LNG (Liquefied natural gas). The Strait is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. But the shipping lane width, in either direction, is only 2 miles. Those two lanes are separated by a 2-mile buffer zone.
Massive AIS signal interference has been observed around the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. This appears to come mostly from the Iranian coastal cities of Assaluyeh and Bandar Abbas. The images below show the ship AIS signals before the attacks (Feb 27th) and the signal interference created after the attacks (Feb. 28th).
Maritime intelligence organization KPLER processes over 1.2 billion of these AIS signals daily. KPLER stated, “This current AIS disruption can cause vessel positions to cluster unnaturally in a single area and skew the distribution of maritime traffic. This complicates situational awareness around key terminals and transit lanes”.
Vessels affected by AIS interference may be broadcasting a position that is miles from their actual position, sometimes even inland. They may appear “on water” but in the wrong location, which is harder to identify at first glance. The distortions can also create false port calls and misrepresent loadings and unloading at the terminals.
View this real-time maritime map to see all the ships bottlenecked at the Strait of Hormuz. Tankers (red) and container ships (green) are shown as arrows if they are moving, and circles if anchored. Filters are available on the right of the map, and zoom in/out features.
Reuters reported that several tanker owners and trading houses suspended crude oil, fuel, and LNG through the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.
Tehran said it had closed navigation, trading sources said on Saturday.”Our ships will stay put for several days,” one top executive at a major trading desk said. Satellite images from tanker trackers showed vessels backed up next to big ports, such as Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, and not moving through Hormuz.
Multiple vessels in the area have received VHF transmission from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that “no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz”, an official with the EU naval mission Aspides told Reuters.
The British Navy said Iran’s orders were not legally binding and advised vessels to transit with caution. Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has not completely stopped, but disruptions are building rapidly, shipbroker Poten & Partners said in a note to clients.
Lloyd’s List, the newspaper devoted to shipping news, said: “In a notice issued by US Navy Central Command in the early hours of Saturday morning, ships were warned against navigating within this area, if possible.”
The tanker association INTERTANKO said the U.S. Navy had warned against navigation in the area – the whole of the Gulf, Gulf of Oman, North Arabian Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz – saying it could not guarantee the safety of shipping. Lloyd’s also said merchant ships should navigate no closer than 30 nautical miles from a naval vessel, the statement explained.
The naval advisory, which has subsequently been distributed by flag states and security firms globally, recommends that “aircraft and ships keep clear of the designated area”.
Jamming and spoofing of satellite navigation systems is likely, according to multiple advisories issued by regional naval operations and industry security sources.
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