"While AIS are certainly valuable tools that help maintain integrity within the maritime domain, there are a few significant drawbacks to their capabilities - particularly when vessel operators turn their AIS off."
Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are critical to the maritime industry, providing critical information to nearby ships and authorities that help ensure safety and efficiency in open water. While first created as systems to help navigate and avoid collisions at sea, AIS is now used for more complex applications involving things like broad-scale maritime domain awareness, vessel monitoring, international trade, and search & rescue.
While AIS are certainly valuable tools that help maintain integrity within the maritime domain, there are a few significant drawbacks to their capabilities - particularly when vessel operators turn their AIS off (Dark Shipping). Below, we explore some of the implications of turning off a ship’s AIS, how vessels can be tracked and detected without it, and what strategies exist to mitigate the risk of dark shipping across industries.
A Basic Overview of AIS
There are two primary types of AIS used today: Terrestrial AIS (T-AIS) and Satellite AIS (S-AIS).
Terrestrial AIS are typically used along coastlines and can only transmit/receive data from so far out at sea (~ 20-50 nautical miles). The biggest advantage to T-AIS is that data transmission happens extremely fast, and lower latency is always better - particularly in emergency scenarios.
Satellite AIS, on the other hand, transmits and receives information via satellite networks in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and provides near-global coverage to vessels and authorities. The good news is that vessels equipped with T-AIS need no additional equipment or upgrades to use S-AIS, as they use the same technology.
Nearly every vessel operating today is equipped with AIS, from small fishing vessels to massive oil tankers. In fact, most ships are legally required by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to have AIS onboard - at least when they meet the size and load requirements.
According to Chapter 5 of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention, “All ships of 300 gross tonnage and upwards engaged on international voyages and cargo ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards, not engaged on international voyages and passenger ships irrespective of size shall be fitted with an automatic identification system (AIS).”
AIS broadcasts physical and navigational data such as vessel dimensions, location, speed, and heading, which helps with everything from basic navigation to sanctions compliance.
The data transferred through the system is automatically tracked and stored, creating a catalog of historical AIS data that can be used for things like information sharing, supply chain optimization, and journey verification.
There is no doubt that AIS is a valuable tool for day-to-day operations, but there is one major drawback to the system.
Can AIS Be Turned Off?
AIS can be turned off and on with the flick of a switch, opening the door for AIS manipulation techniques used by bad actors with ill intentions. Simply put, vessel personnel can stop transmitting their position by turning their AIS off, allowing them to move under the radar and avoid detection.
This strategy is called Dark Shipping, and it is being used more and more by those looking to get ahead.
How Does an AIS Work?
While effective, AIS are relatively basic systems that use not-so-complex networks to transmit and share information.
Vessels equipped with AIS transponders (the pieces of equipment that send and receive vessel data) transmit information about their position, speed, and destination to nearby receivers and LEO-based satellites. AIS data blasts are sent every few seconds, depending on the vessel and location. If the AIS signal must be relayed beyond terrestrial or line-of-sight limitations, a LEO satellite receives and retransmits the signal to the desired location, and the ship or station of interest receives the update.
AIS transponders typically operate on one of two VHF radio channels: 87B (161.975MHz) and 88B (162.025MHz).
By operating on these channels, all nearby vessels and on-shore stations can clearly and readily receive the information needed. Once received, the physical and navigational data of every vessel is shown on a heads-up display (radar or chart plotter), allowing vessel personnel and maritime authorities to monitor each other's positions, movements, and more.
Since nearly every ship is equipped with an AIS transponder and receiver, the intertwined nature of these systems provides broad-scale maritime domain awareness, increasing efficiency, lowering traffic congestion, and creating a safer arena for vessels to operate.
Reasons for Turning A Ship’s AIS Off
There are some legitimate reasons that a vessel operator might turn off their AIS, but more often than not, turning a ship’s AIS off is a signal of bad intentions - most often, to conceal illegal activities like illegal fishing, illicit trade, or trafficking.
Still, AIS outages can occur unintentionally, too, so it’s important to be able to make the distinction when necessary.
Intentional Reasons
While the following list is anything but exhaustive, the following are some of the most common intentional reasons a ship operator might turn its AIS off.
Piracy:
While it might seem like something straight out of a movie, piracy is a very real threat that all kinds of vessels and crews face. While piracy isn’t rampant in all of the world's oceans, places like the Singapore Strait or the Red Sea near Yemen are incredibly dangerous.
Pirates will often try to board vessels, be it for fishing or cargo trade, to steal money or cargo from a ship and its crew. In some extreme cases, pirates will also take the crew hostage for ransom. While some larger commercial vessels are equipped with anti- piracy equipment, most are left to combat piracy alone - at least until emergency services can arrive to the scene.
It’s not all just about safety, either. According to the IMO, piracy costs the global economy around $25 billion annually, not to mention the impact it has on the growth and security of international commerce.
Conflict Zones:
In places where hostile forces are in conflict, some ship operators decide to go dark by switching off their AIS. Why? Well, sometimes, it’s just too easy to get caught in the conflict.
In 2023, Loyd's list reported that Russia declared war on any ship that navigated to Ukrainian ports after the announcement. Russia was in the midst of destroying grain facilities to try and break food security in Ukraine, and according to them, any ship that was in the waters of Ukraine would be considered an enemy.
During this time, vessels who needed to pass turned off their AIS for obvious reasons. Still, there were civilian casualties as a result of Russia’s aggression.
The Trade of Sanctioned Goods:
One of the most common methods entities use to trade sanctioned goods, often sanctioned crude oil, is to operate in and around ports without using AIS - otherwise known as dark shipping.
If, for example, a ship was on track to a destination but wanted to make a stop at a Venezuelan or Iranian port where regulations were in place to prevent the trade of goods, a ship might turn its AIS off and make a quick stop - either to a port to load/unload sanctioned crude or to a place in open water where two vessels could make a Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfer.
While there will be an obvious gap in data when a ship’s AIS is off, it can allow the vessel and its crew enough time to make the trade without being detected. When executed correctly, they can load and offload the illicit cargo without being captured or found out by authorities.
Illegal (IUU) Fishing:
IUU fishing is among the biggest issues faced by authorities in the maritime domain, and the most common tactic for illegal fishing boats to operate undetected is dark shipping.
Not only does illegal fishing violate and undermine maritime law, but it also threatens food security, rolls back conservation efforts, and puts legally acting fisheries at an economic disadvantage. To make matters worse, many IUU fishing entities employ forced labor or pay their crew unlivable wages - an often overlooked form of human trafficking and slave labor.
Trafficking (Drugs and Weapons):
Drug and weapons trafficking are among the most destructive reasons that ships operate in the dark without the use of their AIS.
When cartels, organized criminal organizations, or human trafficking entities want to move their cargo into new territory, they must do so as quietly as possible. When they move their cargo by sea, they often wont even equip their vessels with AIS in the first place, but when they do disguise their transport among legitimate cargo, it often coincides with dark shipping.
In some instances, these organizations will even use narco submarines - semi- submersible vessels that travel along the surface of the water, just deep enough to make them undetectable with the naked eye. While there are strategies to identify and track semi-submersibles, they involve precision satellite technology to do so.
Unintentional Reasons
Now that we’ve covered a few of the intentional reasons for turning off a ship's AIS, it’s important to understand the opposite side of the coin.
Equipment Error:
There are numerous equipment errors, onboard and off, that could lead to a ship’s AIS being turned off.
Power supply issues could create an inconsistent power supply or voltage drops, which could lead to AIS malfunctions (among other things), while battery failure could lead to an entire ships equipment failure.
Other things, like the loss of GPS or GNSS signal, could result in inadequate or false positioning and navigation data.
When GNSS signals are degraded enough, data errors can be painfully common. Since AIS relies on GPS systems for efficient and accurate navigation, inadequate signal reception can cause huge issues, like when trying to navigate port areas and make trade deadlines.
Maintenance:
When a ship undergoes maintenance, it is often at port and not underway. Sometimes, though, a ship might need to undergo maintenance during a journey (while moving), which could falsely signal authorities of dark shipping.
When a crew fails to conduct regular maintenance checks, a slew of things can go wrong, so the best way to avoid this is through proper maintenance scheduling. Not all things are cut and dry as we’d like, though.
Another maintenance issue can result from a vessel using outdated AIS equipment. As technology evolves and industry standards change, a ship might need new AIS equipment like a transponder. While most equipment changes happen in between journeys, this possibility can not be ruled out.
User Error:
While it’s difficult to say how often it happens, human error is another reason a ship’s AIS might go dark. A crew member or captain could configure the AIS system improperly or change the settings incorrectly, which could lead to system failure at the time of configuration.
When this happens, it could go unnoticed, resulting in a ship operating for an unknown amount of time without the use of its AIS.
Implications of Turning a Ship’s AIS Off
Regardless of the reason, a ship operating without AIS (as a dark ship) can have severe implications, be it legally, operationally, or for safety reasons.
Safety Risks
Seeing as though AIS was invented to help vessel operators avoid collisions at sea, operating without AIS can be dangerous. Most ships use AIS as their primary point of visualization while underway, so not seeing other ships can quickly lead to a collision.
Dangerous cargo like oil could lead to vessel fires, equipment or cargo loss, environmental damage, and crew harm if the ship collides with another vessel or an inanimate object.
Regulatory & Legal Consequences
The IMO mandates ships of certain sizes and operations to be equipped with AIS and use it while underway, and not complying with these rules can lead to serious regulatory and legal consequences.
If a dark ship working for an international trade organization gets caught not using AIS, it could lead to harsh regulatory penalties on the entire organization, not just the ship. The organization might even need to pay fines.
Legally, it can be worse. In the case of illegal fishing vessels, for example, the captain and crew, as well as organizational owners, can face jail time - often in the country where the ship was found fishing illegally.
Operational Impacts
Dark shipping can also lead to negative operational impacts, even for vessels that unintentionally turn their AIS off.
For example, route planning and navigation are imperative to effective and efficient operations. Cargo ships have tight deadlines to meet, and inefficiencies can lead to port delays, navigational errors, and the inability to receive updates from their control centers.
While some of these instances might only cause short delays, others might lead to days- or week-long problems that can extend deep into a business's bottom line.
Since port congestion is such a problem at some of the world’s busiest trade hubs, AIS become a necessary tool that almost can’t go unused.
Detecting and Addressing Vessels with their AIS Off
While dark shipping makes vessel identification and monitoring difficult, there are ways that authorities and businesses can find them - even without the use of AIS.
Most often, these services come from ‘space-as-a-service’ companies - putting satellites equipped with various sensor technology into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to help solve the problem. Companies like Spire Global have some of the world’s leading satellite technologies, deploying dozens of small satellites equipped with payloads that can see into the most challenging marine environments.
To learn more about the solutions to some of the maritime domain’s biggest challenges, be sure to visit the SOLUTIONS PAGE here on darkshipping.com.
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