Eight OFAC-sanctioned Iranian tankers are converging on Malaysia's EOPL. Seven are dark, one resurfaced after 28 days off radar. Windward assesses the group for ship-to-ship transfer here before continuing to China. Per Vortexa, the fleet has loaded 8.56 million barrels of Iranian crude in 2026.

171K+ vessels jammed in Q2. 3.3M+ false STS meetings recorded. Marine insurers must look beyond unverified AIS data and documents. Insurers need behavioral intelligence at every stage to price risk accurately. https://okt.to/jmk326

A 2nd Qatari LNG carrier hit in a month. GASLOG SHANGHAI was struck ~11nm NE of Limah, Oman on Jul 31. The IRGC separately claims it disabled 2 more tankers under U.S. escort. What we tracked before the strike: https://okt.to/5yefNa

🚨 Italian navy boarded the sanctioned tanker TOA PAYOH (IMO 9298492) west of Pantelleria on Aug 2 under Operation IRINI — the 2nd EU flag verification boarding in 12 days. 18 Russia shadow fleet tankers boarded by European forces since Dec 2024, 15 this year.

6 Saudi-flagged tankers detected routing via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Houthi blockade. One Taiwan-to-Yanbu voyage nearly doubling, from ~24 to ~56 days. Details here: https://okt.to/Lk4ryT

GASLOG SHANGHAI, carrying Qatari LNG, struck in Hormuz on Jul 31, the 2nd hit on Qatari LNG cargo 1 month. 4 Saudi tankers struck in the Red Sea, but 22 Chinese-linked vessels crossed Bab el-Mandeb unharmed. https://okt.to/UMivDo

EO imagery of Hodeidah before and after the July 24-25 strike shows port activity rising. Four vessels explain why, including one tracing a Malaysia-Somalia-Djibouti-Hodeidah route, a known smuggling pattern. https://okt.to/f4cwgU

Nearly half of Saudi Arabia's Yanbu crude now moves north via SUMED or Suez, not south through Bab el Mandeb, after Houthi forces banned Saudi cargo on July 19. Some VLCCs shuttle crude to Ain Sukhna dark on AIS, while others load at Sidi Kerir. Chinese ships still pass uninterrupted.

A Chinese-flagged bulk carrier sailed Bab el-Mandeb to Jeddah untouched while the Houthis hit Saudi-linked ships at the same ports. No dark activity. It broadcast "CHINA SHIP CREW" on AIS through the chokepoint. Selective enforcement, in the open.

Saudi tanker NCC GHAZAL was reportedly struck by Houthi forces on July 28. Beforehand, a 7-day AIS blackout off Yemen, multiple ship-to-ship transfers, repeated destination changes. Windward's risk models flagged it as a likely target two days before the strike. Behavior tells the story first.

15 LNG tankers are currently sailing toward India. • 2 are already in Indian waters and 2 more are arriving within days. • 3 remain stuck in the Arabian Gulf. • 7 are weeks away from Africa and the Americas. Supply is now operating on a razor-thin margin.

Strait of Hormuz transit dropped 80% in 24 hours. 📉 It's not just the strikes, it's the insurance. With P&I clubs cancelling war risk extensions and premiums surging to 1%, the waterway is effectively closed by risk assessment. windward.ai/blog/role-of...

Sanctions tightened and Russia adapted. Windward tracking shows EU-owned tankers regained share of Russian oil shipments in December as prices fell below the cap and new trading structures emerged. windward.ai/blog/eu-owne...

Sanctioned and fleeing tanker Marinera, as seen in this Windward remote sensing SAR image in the North Atlantic on January 6. A smaller vessel is also visible, possibly in pursuit.

Tanker Bella 1 is attempting to evade a U.S. blockade by repainting a Russian flag and claiming protection at sea. Windward has also observed other sanctioned VLCCs making U-turns near Venezuela, signaling widening disruption to oil exports. windward.ai/blog/tanker-...

Windward AI has identified six high risk tankers including the BELOMOR and JUMBO adopting a coastal hugging strategy near Türkiye. These sanctioned vessels are betting that proximity to shore will prevent strikes. Data shows the dark fleet is under pressure. windward.ai/blog/russian...

Undersea cables carry 99 percent of global data. They are exposed, lightly monitored, and increasingly targeted. Infrastructure sabotage now hides behind “routine” maritime activity. Detecting it requires visibility beyond AIS. windward.ai/blog/protect...

The dark fleet is not a vessel problem. It is a network problem. AIS manipulation, false flags, and shell ownership are coordinated across fleets to move sanctioned oil at scale. Vessel-by-vessel monitoring misses the system behind the activity. windward.ai/blog/what-is...

FREESIA 1 (IMO 9159660) is transmitting near Venezuela. Windward’s Remote Sensing Intelligence confirms the vessel was physically scrapped in Bangladesh in 2021. This is what zombie vessels look like in practice. go.wnwd.com/how-zombie-v...

AIS was built for safety, not deception. As spoofing and dark activity scale globally, Windward's Remote Sensing Intelligence delivers the answer by fusing SAR, EO, RF, and behavioral analytics to provide the verified visibility you need. windward.ai/blog/why-mar...

Port operations in the UK and Canada slowed this week as weather, rail issues, and a container spill added pressure. Follow for more port insights.

From @apnews.com: "The Skipper’s final weeks hiding in the Caribbean were reconstructed by Windward, which uses satellite imagery relied on by U.S. officials mapping the movements of the dark fleet." Thank you to AP, @washingtonpost.com, & @skynewsrss.bsky.social for surfacing our intel to readers.

The U.S. seizure of Skipper and Ukraine’s targeted drone strikes show a clear shift. Flagless dark-fleet tankers are becoming active enforcement targets. Nearly 400 falsely flagged ships are now exposed. Full context: windward.ai/blog/the-dar...

Gambia is removing Russia-trading tankers from its flag as pressure grows on permissive registries used by the dark fleet. Twenty vessels are now falsely flagged, with more expected. Windward data shows how the crackdown is shifting tanker flows: windward.ai/blog/gambia-...

False-flag vessels have doubled since January. Q3 added a 22% surge, four new fraudulent registries, and record-level flag-hopping across global fleets. This is the new map of maritime deception.

11. New Power then sailed to Dongying, China, where it went dark for 16 hours. During that period the tanker discharged its oil at an undisclosed terminal. This practice has become common in northern China as terminals attempt to hide the origin of sanctioned cargoes.

5. Another example is Azure Voyager (IMO 9181649), which has left similar spoofed tracks while loitering in waters near Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire. Windward data shows five ID and location tampering incidents for that tanker in the past 14 months.

4. In this Windward Remote Sensing Intelligence electro-optical satellite image from November 24, New Power’s AIS-reported route (in red) does not match its actual position — the vessel does not appear anywhere in the frame.

🚢 Windward’s #ShipoftheDay: New Power (IMO 9266853). Since arriving in Venezuela in early September, New Power has engaged in the full trifecta of deceptive shipping practices seen in the country’s sanctioned oil trades. 🧵👇

@michellewb.bsky.social, Windward's Senior Maritime Intelligence Analyst, joined BBC News to explain the rising risks of the dark fleet and why it's “an accident waiting to happen." Watch the full story: youtu.be/3ObIEBkssuU?...