Ships’ Signals Go Haywire as Hormuz Strait Tensions Escalate

Geolocation data for some ships in the Persian Gulf showed locations and speeds that defied logic, pointing to an increase in signal interference following fresh attacks by Iran on neighboring countries.

The tracking data showed about 120 vessels in a circle about an hour’s drive inland from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, signaling they’re traveling at nearly 50 knots but without changes to their location. A smaller gathering of about a dozen ships was indicating speeds of more than 100 knots near the Omani-UAE land border.

The appearance of such clusters inland, and at improbable speeds, is probably due to interference with the vessels’ geolocation broadcasts, known as signal jamming. It comes after the UAE said it activated air defense systems last week to counter missiles and drones fired by Tehran — the first attack by Iran on the country in almost a month.

It’s likely that the UAE and other Gulf countries activated electronic warfare systems following these latest attacks, said Mark Douglas, an analyst at Starboard Maritime Intelligence.

“Shipping, and most noticeably AIS data, got caught in the crossfire,” he said, referring to the Automatic Identification System that uses radio signals to broadcast ships’ real-time locations.

While the latest levels of electronic interference aren’t as severe as at the beginning of the war, the ship clusters point to an uptick after those earlier signal-scrambling efforts eased.

Increased levels of signal jamming can complicate analyses of real-time traffic data in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial to understanding energy flows. Already, captains are proactively turning to tactics such as turning off ships’ transponders to shield themselves from being targeted by hostile forces. One cargo vessel was attacked in the region on Sunday.