Maritime intelligence firms are reporting a surge in evasive shipping tactics in and around the Strait of Hormuz following the U.S.-led blockade targeting vessels linked to Iranian ports, raising new questions about enforcement and the flow of energy exports through one of the world's most critical chokepoints, The New York Times reported.
Ami Daniel, chief executive of maritime analytics company Windward, said that ships in the region have increasingly begun "going dark" or broadcasting false identities in the past 24 hours, signaling a shift in behavior after initially operating without disruption in the wake of the late-February U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
"Now, we are starting to see vessels going dark or using 'zombie' or random identification," Daniel said, describing a pattern in which ships disable or manipulate their automatic identification systems (AIS), the global tracking technology required under international maritime law.
The AIS system transmits a vessel's identity, location and route through a unique nine-digit identifier, effectively serving as a digital fingerprint.
But analysts say ships are increasingly exploiting loopholes — either by switching off transponders, falsifying destinations or assuming the identities of other vessels, a practice known as "spoofing."
xperts say the tactics mirror those used by Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" to evade sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, where ships altered identifying numbers or operated under ambiguous or stateless registrations to continue exporting oil.
"What the Russians have been doing is altering the numbers," said John C.K. Daly, noting that similar techniques are now appearing among vessels operating near Iran.
A report released Tuesday by Windward found that some ships linked to Iran have already gone dark, while sanctioned or falsely flagged vessels continue to move through the region, suggesting operators are probing the limits of U.S. enforcement.
"The continued movement of similar vessel profiles indicates that operators are testing the practical limits of enforcement in real time," the report said.
Analysts warn that the rise of so-called "ghost" or "shadow" vessels is turning the Strait of Hormuz into what Erik Bethel described as a "contested information environment," where incomplete or manipulated tracking data complicates efforts to monitor maritime traffic and enforce the blockade.
"A blockade is only as strong as the intelligence behind the interdictions," Bethel said.
The challenge is compounded by the complexity of global shipping, where vessels are often owned, flagged and operated across multiple jurisdictions, making attribution difficult even under normal conditions.
Despite the surge in evasion tactics, U.S. officials say enforcement remains firm. More than a dozen American naval vessels are currently positioned in international waters in the Gulf of Oman, and U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that six merchant ships had already complied with orders to turn back toward Iranian ports.
Daniel said geography ultimately limits the effectiveness of evasion efforts, noting that the narrow confines of the strait make it difficult for vessels to escape detection entirely.
"My expectation is that the U.S. Navy can sit out in the Gulf of Oman," he said. "I don't think there's a way to breach the blockade."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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