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Maritime OSINT : In Detail (Part II)

Dipti Yadav
8 min readMay 22, 2024

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Access Part I from here: https://hacktoria.com/maritime-osint-in-detail/

A year went by doing nothing productive in a corporate environment, hindering what I could have discovered all alone. The zeal sort of withered and it was pretty hard to see right through the mist in my head, hence clouding my judgement of whether I even love my profession or not. But the actual problem was the surroundings, as your hobby never puts you in a state of existential crisis.

I AM THE MASTER OF MY OWN FATE, SO I INSTEAD PREFER TO TRAVERSE AN UNCONVENTIONAL PATH WHICH ALIGNS WITH MY STANDARDS — IYKYK.

And, now that the sky is clear, it’s time to ‘row, row, row our boat’ towards the initially intended direction. Umm… there’s plenty on my list this time that I would like to cover, hence the odds of it being a lengthy article seem to be pretty high. So, as I always say, bear with it if you are a true OSINT nerd haha!

Fishing out the Fishing Vessels

It’s no secret that fishing vessels are often the ones which are extensively used in illicit activities around the globe, the reason being its non-association with an IMO number (the only identifier used across ship tracking websites). However, even such vessels are bound to register for the IMO number under certain circumstances — i.e. it should be of at least or more than 100 gross tonnage (including those with steel or non-steel hull) OR of less than 100 gross tonnage but with a size limit of 12 metres in length overall (LOA).

Now consider those which are still meandering within a certain territory without an IMO (since they are ineligible) and carrying out their dirty work, ranging from drug trafficking to diesel smuggling. Comparatively hard to discern, no doubt — however there are already plenty of identifiers made available by the authorities to monitor every vessel which sails the ocean, no matter its size.

Here are some crucial unique vessel identifiers (UVIs) other than the IMO :

  • IRCS
  • National registration number
  • MMSI
  • RFMO ID
  • TUVI and ISSF-UVI (for tuna fisheries)

IRCS: allocated by the national telecommunications authority to those vessels which are equipped with radio equipment on board (AKA International Radio Call Sign) https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-R/terrestrial/fmd/Pages/call_sign_series.aspx

National Registration Number: assigned by the flag state authority for identification

MMSI: a nine-digit number used by maritime digital selective calling (DSC), AIS and a few other equipment to uniquely identify or establish contact with a vessel, much like a cell phone number, with initial three numerals consisting its MID (AKA Maritime Mobile Service Identity)

RFMO ID: vessel’s registry number for the RFMO (Regional Fisheries Management Organisation) it is operating under

TUVI and ISSF-UVI: assigned by the third parties employed by a certain RFMO for all those vessels which are working in tuna industry

Harmful fisheries subsidies dispensed by the respective governments to their fishermen is also claimed to be one of the key issues due to which overfishing has seemingly accelerated in regions like China.

At present, numerous online guides are available to make it easier for the maritime security agencies around the world in capturing IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing vessels, while also to promote international collaboration for immediate action.

In one of these guides, the law enforcement of each flag state has been advised to take regular photographs of its fishing vessels to keep a close watch on any possible discrepancy in their overall design over time. While taking a photograph, one should keep in mind that all of its unique identifiers are clearly visible — namely vessel name, home port, call sign, national registration number and IMO number.

Looking out for inconsistencies in every regular port visiting vessel may sometimes reveal those suspicious vessels which employ the identity theft technique and keep evading using an innocuous veil of a ‘clean vessel’. Monitoring AIS records of the original (victim) vessel in this case helps gather incriminating evidence most of the time. Also, don’t forget to spot crucial physical differences such as the shape of the window in the stern when two vessels are using the same unique identifiers.

Another thing to keep in mind is how certain dubious vessels try to hide their identifiers using nets or tires, and even paint in some cases.

Some vessels also come imprinted with their fishing licence numbers which helps accelerate the identification process. Other than this, a basic understanding about the structural differences between purse seiner, reefer, squid jiggers, trawlers and longliner vessels would help a great deal during investigation.

Meanwhile, it comes as no surprise that the very vessels involved in IUU activities are also the one mostly caught in weapons, drugs and wildlife smuggling operations, which indicates the level of significance covering these illegal fishing activities entails.

When we first hear of monitoring IUU fishing vessels, the tracking database that we get reminded of is Global Fishing Watch. Their work is undoubtedly appreciable, leaving no stone unturned in assisting the maritime law enforcement agencies. And mind you, you aren’t going to get that wealth of information about a random fishing vessel for free anywhere else. Take for example, a vessel named DEBI which was caught in a cocaine smuggling case in December last year by the Indian authorities. A quick search using its MMSI brings us the results with its route spanning a year and all the ports that she visited.

One cannot imagine how helpful these open source projects could be — which are not just limited to cracking down on IUU fishing, but also other forms of smuggling and trafficking. It all boils down to the fact that there exists a nexus of such ships which do all sorts of crimes employing just a single vessel in some cases.

Through The Audacious project, Global Fishing Watch received its $60 million funding intended to end illegal fishing and safeguard the ocean using AI and satellite data during June 2023. After almost a year, the organisation released a long-form publication on how around 72–76% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels have remained dark during 2017–2021, with the most affected areas being South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Other than this, there are also similar websites which are giving their all to protect the global marine ecosystems:

Distress/emergency messaging in sea:

VHF marine radio: used to communicate distress messages; runs between the frequency range of 156 and 174 MHz. Channel 16 VHF AKA International distress frequency comes in handy during shipwreck investigations.

Inmarsat EGC: Enhanced Group Call (EGC) is a text-based service which falls under General Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) with a much better coverage than Navtex. Access live Inmarsat messages here: https://nautoshark.com/InmarsatEgc

NAVTEX: majorly used for delivery of navigational and meteorological warnings and forecasts; set at a medium frequency range (518 kHz). (AKA Navigational Telex) Access live NAVTEX messages here: https://navtex.lv/, https://frisnit.com/cgi-bin/navtex/view.cgi

Berthing Reports:

Some of the global ports post their latest/daily berthing reports publicly on their websites (as suggested by Rae Baker in her book Deep Dive). Posting an example from Adani-owned Mundra port:

Using satellite imagery datasets/websites:

Sifting through multiple public github repositories related to ship detection could also prove to be a vital source for tracking down a vessel in question. One is just required to download the dataset for a certain year and analyse the length and overall structure (if possible) from the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images.

Otherwise, Sentinel Hub’s EO browser and Bellingcat’s ship detection tool based on SAR and Sentinel-1 imagery are always helpful in such scenarios.

India’s geographical dilemma:

Trapped between two major drug trafficking regions — the golden crescent and the golden triangle on either sides, it’s often hard to come by which form of mitigation a nation like India should proceed with.

In such a scenario, doling out free transponders to local fishing vessels prevents from so many threats at the same time if duly implemented, a plan initiated by the Indian government last year under the PMMSY scheme. However, words should only be believed when they have been practically executed. And unfortunately so, the de facto part is nowhere to be seen. The process of fitting these ISRO transponders on the vessels originating from Odisha is expected to be completed by September this year as per an Indian parliament document. Although, both the SAGARMITRA and SAGARA apps which were built to maintain a national and regional database respectively now come with a Google Play Store warning that they are not supported for the latest version of Android.

In such cases, handing out free tracking systems to fishermen without a proper database becomes all the same as sitting idle on the matter. While it could be possible that the government is planning to roll out the apps officially only after all the 1 lakh transponders are properly installed, there are still more than 600 fishing boats, as the news suggests, which are ready to be tracked. Anyway, a well-thought-out piece on the PMMSY scheme would do more justice to the issue than mere blabbering (which I am hoping to pitch soon).

Lastly, in order to trace random vessels using online SDRs, don’t forget to read this article of mine on SIGINT!

UNIQUE TERMS:

  • Voyage Data Recorder: An equipment fitted onboard ships which records various data on a ship (depending on its model), further helping authorities in reconstructing the voyage during an accident investigation; very much like a flight data recorder on an aircraft.
  • ARPA: helps in assessing the risk of collision, hence guiding the operator to make safe manoeuvres. (AKA Automatic Radar Plotting Aid)
  • LRIT: uses satellites to transmit secure identification and location data to flag states globally to enhance safety and security of shipping along with marine environment protection; has a wider coverage range than AIS which uses VHF signals not going beyond 40 nautical miles. (AKA Long-Range Identification and Tracking)
  • AToN/NAVAID: Navigational aids are any form of signal or markers aiding the traveller in navigation (E.g., lighthouses, buoys, fog signals/foghorns, day beacons)

EXTRAS:

VESSEL DETECTION RESEARCH PAPERS:

Osint
Maritime
Ship
Fishing
Osintforgood

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Dipti Yadav

Written by Dipti Yadav

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