Brandan Lickey, Senior Product Marketing Manager, HawkEye 360
Background
The Strait of Malacca, a roughly 500 mile narrow waterway linking the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, has been a critical maritime chokepoint for centuries. Its importance lies in the fact that it facilitates the passage of over 90,000 vessels annually, or nearly 200 ships every day, carrying roughly one- third of global trade.
This traffic volume makes it one of the most significant global shipping lanes, particularly for energy supplies, as a substantial portion of the world’s oil transits through the Strait. Consequently, the vast volume of traffic also makes it susceptible to a host of nefarious activities.
The Strait faces significant geopolitical and environmental challenges. The increasing tension between major powers has introduced complexities around the security and control of this vital maritime passage. Additionally, territorial disputes in the nearby South China Sea further exacerbate security concerns.
The littoral states, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, have worked to establish joint naval patrols and information-sharing mechanisms to counter these threats, but the underlying geopolitical tensions remain constant.
The Challenge
Given the Strait is located near some of the worlds most contested maritime regions, it’s a common flashpoint for bad actors to obscure the movements of vessels involved in illegal activities like oil smuggling, sanctions evasion, or illegal ship-to-ship (STS) transfers. With these congested waterways, it’s difficult to monitor legitimate vessel activity – let alone those who intentionally try to evade detection.
For example, vessels might turn off their AIS or spoof their location to avoid detection during covert operations, such as smuggling oil to sanctioned countries. The sheer number of vessels navigating the waterway combined with gaps in traditional vessel monitoring pose significant threats to maritime security.
Case Study
Rf data and analytics reveal dark ship-to-ship operations
HawkEye 360 conducts RF collections over the Strait of Malacca through the anchorage northeast of Johor, Malaysia, to monitor for high-risk vessel activity.
During the month of August, HawkEye analysts observed suspicious activity from two vessels of interest: Itagua (MMSI: 620999528) and Shanaye Queen (MMSI: 533132105). Leveraging HawkEye’s Vessel Identification analytics, analysts were able to detect and identify the two dark vessels in close proximity, indicating a probable ship-to- ship transfer.
Vessel Context
Itagua: The ultimate beneficial ownership information from IHS via Equasis indicates Itagua, a Comoros-flagged tanker, is owned and operated by BLUE OCEAN MARITIME CONSULT (domiciled in the UAE) and ITAUGUA SERVICES INC (domiciled in Liberia). Flag targeting information from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) indicates Comoros as a high-risk flag administration.
Shanaye Queen: Open-source investigations from Lloyd’s List identified SHANAYE QUEEN, a Malaysia-flagged Tanker, loading probable Iranian oil in January 2022. Ultimate beneficial ownership information from IHS via Equasis indicates the vessel is owned and operated by ALYA MARINE SDN BHD (domiciled in Malaysia) and SHANAYE SHIPPING PVT LTD (domiciled in India).
Analyzing Historic Vessel Voyages
On July 25, AIS records indicate Itagua began travelling through the Gulf of Oman, continuing through the Arabian Sea in the Gulf of Bengal where HawkEye was conducting RF collection campaigns.
As it traveled through the Strait of Malacca, HawkEye’s Vessel Identification analytics independently detected and identified the vessel by recognizing its radar characteristics three separate times.
On August 6, AIS records indicate Shanaye Queen left port in China and traveled southwest through the South China Sea. HawkEye 360 independently detected and identified the vessel using its radar characteristics seven separate times.
Suspicious AIS Spoofing Patterns
Itagua anchored on August 15 northeast of Johor, Malaysia. Shanaye Queen proceeded past Itagua’s location and stopped in Singapore for a port call.
As Shanaye Queen begins her return voyage from port, Itagua began transmitting strange AIS behavior, highly indicative of AIS spoofing. AIS spoofing involves falsifying or manipulating vessel tracking data to hide a ship’s true identity or location.
At the same time, Shanaye Queen continues to travel northeast near the location of Itagua. On August 21, Shanaye Queen begins to anchor approximately 5.7 km from Itagua’s spoofed location. Starting the next day on August 22nd, Shanaye Queen starts to exhibit similar signs of AIS spoofing approximately 12.72 km away from Itagua.
Identifying Dark Ship to Ship Transfers
Around the same time frame, HawkEye 360 detected multiple marine radars just north of the two spoofed locations. Using Vessel Identification analytics, HawkEye established with high confidence that the radars match the RF characteristics of Itagua and Shanaye Queen.
Now that the precise locations of these vessels were established, HawkEye analysts were then able to reference Planet imagery to corroborate that the two vessels were conducting dark ship-to-ship operations.
Furthermore, analysts also referenced imagery in the two locations of apparent AIS spoofing and confirmed no ships were present at the time they were reporting.
Following the probable exchange, Shanaye Queen returned to port in Beijing and Itagua returned to port near Dubai.
Conclusion
The Strait of Malacca is a vital maritime route, but its importance makes it a target for illicit activities that threaten global security and trade.
This case study highlights the challenges of monitoring vessels in such congested waters, especially when potentially nefarious tactics like AIS spoofing are used to evade detection.
HawkEye 360’s RF data analytics successfully identified dark ship- to-ship (STS) transfers, demonstrating the effectiveness of advanced monitoring technologies where traditional methods fail.
Combining RF analytics, satellite imagery and vessel identification provides a strong solution to maritime security challenges. These tools enhance security and deter future offenses by detecting and verifying illicit activities. As geopolitical tensions and global trade grow, securing the Strait of Malacca will remain crucial.
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Commercial Imagery and Information. Presentation contains no “Technical Data.” Contains Information that is Only Representative of Information that can be Produced from the Use or Operation of a Defense Article.
Author Brandan Lickey is a seasoned marketing professional with nearly a decade of experience developing go-to-market strategies, managing product launches, and leading promotional campaigns across industries such as network security, critical infrastructure security, and data analytics. As the Senior Product Marketing Manager at HawkEye 360, he oversees the promotion of the company’s portfolio of space-based data and analytics products. Brandan excels at translating complex technical features into compelling narratives, driving successful product adoption and market expansion. He is also a published author, contributing to industry outlets such as Power Magazine and the Association for Supply Chain Management. Brandan holds certifications from Pragmatic Institute (PMC-III), the Product Marketing Alliance (PMA), and Pendo.io. Additionally, he earned a B.S. in English with a concentration with a concentration in Technical and Business Writing from Radford University.
