What do you do with "zombies?"
Regards,
Posted on 04/15/2026 9:26:04 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
Maritime intelligence experts say that more ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz seem to be adopting tactics to avoid detection since the U.S. blockade on vessels coming in and out of Iranian ports went into effect on Monday.
“Now, we are starting to see vessels going dark or using ‘zombie’ or random identification,” Ami Daniel, the chief executive of Windward, a maritime intelligence data provider, said in an interview on Tuesday.
In the weeks after the American-Israeli attack on Iran in late February, Iranian exports went “uninterrupted” and had “almost no need to go off radar,” Mr. Daniel said. But in the past 24 hours, more ships appear to be manipulating the global system intended to keep tabs on vessel activity and traffic, suggesting that some vessels linked to Iran are being “a bit more cautious,” he said.
Under international maritime law, most large commercial vessels must travel with a transponder that automatically transmits the ship’s name, location, route and other identifying information. That includes a nine-digit number with a country code, which serves as a digital fingerprint for a ship.
Vessels in Middle Eastern waters that are now trying to hide their location or are otherwise falsifying information are employing methods that have been perfected by Russian “shadow fleet” vessels evading sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, some experts say.
“Shadow fleet tankers have been experimenting with stateless ID numbers,” said John C.K. Daly, a nonresident fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute in Washington who has been tracking Russian shadow ships. “What the Russians have been doing is altering the numbers.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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Well, if they want to risk detonating a mine I guess that’s their choice…..I don’t see how these vessels can be insured, either.
Best to fire upon spoofing vessels. It’s the only way to be sure.
What do you do with "zombies?"
Regards,
We can easily track ships by satellite or plane, regardless if they have their beacons on.
But, hey, at the NYT giving hope to the enemy and making us think the fight is hopeless is the agenda.
Iran needs some artificial reefs.
A spoofing or false flagged vessel is lawfully subject to stop and inspection under basic maritime law.
And bear in mind, our surface radars can easily detect and track a 500’ vessel with 50’ of fretboard.
Have an A-10 fly by and give them a whiff of the grape.
“...giving hope to the enemy...”
Yep, I’m SURE that the ayatollahs are Times subscribers who just got clued in by reading this article.
The article concludes:
“Still, whatever ruses they employ, vessels off Iran might only get so far. It is difficult to get out to the open ocean via a waterway as narrow as the Strait of Hormuz without being detected.
“A U.S. official said that more than 12 American military vessels were stationed in international waters in the Gulf of Oman. And on Tuesday, United States Central Command said that six merchant vessels had complied with directions by radio from U.S. forces to turn around and re-enter Iranian ports.
“ ‘My expectation is that the U.S. Navy can sit out in the Gulf of Oman,’ Mr. Daniel of Windward said. ‘I don’t think there’s a way to breach the blockade.’ “
Not sure why we need ID - if they’re heading for Iran, they get stopped. Transponders are helpful, not necessary - hard for them to beat radar.
We’re told over and over about how narrow the strait is, but now THIS story wants to talk about ships sneaking through.
Irrelevant news!
“Blockade” means: “Stop all ships”...
This article is nonsense...
Uh, “AI” should have no problem tracking them right? Hello? Bueller? 🚤🛰
The Strait of Hormuz varies in width from about 21 to 60 miles (34 to 97 kilometers), with navigable shipping channels narrower than the overall strait. Wikipedia
the best spoofing takes place when Putin gets in a jet. I hear his tech is freaking amazing.
Just let it be known that if a ship can’t be identified, we’ll sink it. “Do ya feel lucky punk?”
It’s funny the responses here that don’t seem to be aware that the majority of spoofing has been by ships trying to avoid Iranian drone attacks. Now the Iranian-side ships are starting to do the same to find a way around the US blockade. Start blowing up “dark” ships indiscriminately and it will be mostly your “own” ships you are sinking.
“...Under international maritime law...”
-
Who enforces that?
- - - - -
Nobody here remembers the U.S. stopping and boarding
Russian ships off the coast of Cuba in the 60’s?
- - - - -
You can turn off your identifying beacon,
but you can’t hide from our radar.
We may not know “who” you are,
but we will still know “where” you are.
Going “dark” or spoofing makes those vessels subject to confiscation per maritime law. We did that to Russian ships after we captured Maduro of Venezuela. I expect we’ll do it again in the Persian Gulf.
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