Windward

Expanding Sanctions and the First Enforcement Actions As the United States prepared to intercept and seize more tankers off Venezuela, six shipping companies that owned sanctions-evading very large crude carriers …

The U.S. government’s seizure of Skipper, alongside Ukraine’s drone attacks in the Black Sea, shows that the dark fleet of hundreds of flagless, stateless tankers can no longer operate unchallenged …

At a Glance The 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) defines maritime security chokepoint access as a core national interest tied directly to economic stability. Illicit networks, gray-zone behaviors, and …

Rising Tensions Over the Tow of Kairos A diplomatic row is brewing between Türkiye and Bulgaria over how and why a tug towed the stricken shadow fleet tanker Kairos into …

At a Glance Undersea cables and offshore pipelines have become primary targets for covert state-linked activity and gray-zone pressure. Infrastructure sabotage is accelerating, from Baltic Sea incidents to suspicious cable …

At a Glance AIS was designed for safety, not sanctions, security, or deception detection. Modern threats exploit AIS gaps through spoofing, cloning, and dark activity. Remote Sensing Intelligence verifies activity …

At a Glance Today’s maritime threats are non-cooperative, fast-moving, and increasingly designed to evade traditional monitoring. Remote sensing intelligence provides mission-critical visibility across SAR, EO, RF, AIS, behavioral analytics, and …

At a Glance Sanctions compliance now requires seeing beyond AIS and paperwork to actual behavior at sea. Deceptive shipping practices, dark fleets, and false flags exploit the limits of cooperative …

Gambia Moves to Reassert Control Over Its Flag Gambia’s maritime administration has begun removing most Russia-trading tankers flagged through its privately run ship registry as a broader crackdown on weak …

At a Glance Vessel-based deception surged in 2025, including false flags, spoofing, and document manipulation. KYC doesn’t account for vessel behavior, movement history, or hidden ownership risk. Know Your Vessel …

U.S. enforcement and intelligence agencies confront a maritime threat environment characterized by systematic deception and accelerating evasion tactics. Adversarial actors employ coordinated Automatic Identification System (AIS) manipulation campaigns. GPS interference …

At a Glance Satellite intelligence has evolved from government reconnaissance programs to widely accessible commercial constellations. Modern maritime, trade, and security teams rely on remote sensing satellite imagery, RF detection, …

21 January 2026. Mark the date. On that day, the EU’s 18th Sanctions Package triggers a rule that will upend global petroleum compliance: any refined product containing Russian-origin crude — …

Russian Naphtha Arrivals in Venezuela A tanker loaded with Russian naphtha has berthed at Venezuela’s Jose terminal, four days after reports that a U.S. warship intersected the route of another …

A Rapid Drop in Greek-Owned Liftings There’s been a drastic and immediate fall in the number of Greece-owned tankers lifting Russian crude to the lowest level since the invasion of …

At a Glance 2025 has been a live stress test for the maritime world, with each quarter introducing new shocks, including GPS spoofing and jamming, tariff shifts, registry fraud, and …

Shadow Fleet Tankers Cluster at Duqm Six sanctioned Russia-trading tankers are signaling that they are berthed at the Oman port of Duqm, amid an escalation in deceptive shipping practices in …

At a Glance Remote sensing collects data about Earth’s surface without physical contact, using satellites, aircraft, or drones. Satellite imagery — from optical to radar — is the most visible …

At a Glance RF signals (radio frequency signals) are electromagnetic emissions produced by communication and navigation systems on vessels. They can be detected passively, revealing vessel locations and activities even …

At a Glance SAR imagery (synthetic aperture radar imagery) uses radar signals to detect objects on Earth’s surface, day or night, in any weather. It’s the all-weather foundation of remote …

At a Glance EO imagery (electro-optical imagery) captures reflected sunlight to deliver color-based satellite views of maritime activity. It’s the most visual layer of remote sensing intelligence, offering confirmation that …

The government of Comoros has begun a clean-out of its international flag registry which has been central to sanctions-circumventing dark fleet tankers shipping Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil. There are …

At a Glance The paradox : Generative AI (Gen AI) was meant to improve trade transparency but is instead empowering fraudsters with sophisticated, scalable tools for tariff evasion. : Generative …

At a Glance Introducing the industry’s first WhatsApp-based vessel screening interface, bringing Maritime AI™ insights directly into the world’s most-used messaging app. Receive instant, mobile-native risk summaries in seconds by …

London International Shipping Week 2025 captured the industry at a crossroads. More than 30,000 delegates gathered across hundreds of events, confronting a sector caught between technology’s promise, climate ambition, and …

For ocean freight forwarders, tariffs are not abstract policy tools. Every new duty or exemption can disrupt sailing schedules, alter customer demand, and reshape contract economics. In recent months, tariff …

At the 17th Annual Capital Link Shipping & Marine Services Forum, held during London International Shipping Week, Windward’s Co-Founder and CEO, Ami Daniel, issued a striking forecast: “In the next …

Many Iran-flagged tankers simultaneously ended a sustained period of dark activity for three days, starting October 12, only for most of the fleet to resume the deceptive shipping practice 48 …

A Russia-bound LPG tanker sailing for the Baltic port of Ust-Luga spoofed its location for 10 days in the Gulf of Finland, concealing the loading of its cargo of propane …

At a Glance GPS jamming accelerated across the global fleet in 2025, evolving from a contained threat to a widespread operational disruptor affecting trade, enforcement, and compliance. In Q1, new …

At a Glance Q1 : The EU’s 16th sanctions package blacklisted 73 shadow fleet tankers and banned Russian aluminum imports, while 70% of newly sanctioned maritime companies were based in …

At a Glance: The EU’s 19th sanctions package and the U.S. actions on Rosneft and Lukoil mark a turning point in global energy enforcement. False-flag vessels now account for 29% …

Russian Crude Faces Mounting Sanctions Pressure At least two blacklisted tankers carrying 1.4 million barrels of Russian crude are tracked at anchor outside the port of Mundra, India, in the …