What Is Dark Activity, and Why Is It Surging in 2026?
At a Glance What Is Dark Activity? Dark activity refers to periods when a commercial vessel intentionally stops broadcasting its Automatic Identification System, or AIS, signal. When a vessel goes dark, its position, course, speed, and identity are no longer visible to the shore-based and satellite-based tracking systems that comprise the global maritime picture. The…
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From Pixels to Findings: How Image Analytics Changes What Satellite Imagery Can Tell You
Satellite imagery has always shown you what’s in a scene. Every dot, every wake, every hull is a detection. What it hasn’t done, until now, is tell you who that detection is, and whether you should care. That’s the gap Windward’s new Image Analytics closes. It’s made up of two capabilities released together: Vessel Correlation,…
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Resolving Charter Disputes When Vessels Go Dark in the Strait of Hormuz
At a Glance The Legal Landscape Is Shifting Legal commentary on Strait of Hormuz-related maritime disputes has grown consistently through 2026. Holland & Knight’s March 2026 analysis flagged the rising risk of charter disputes as the Hormuz disruption continued. Skuld’s charterparty implications has addressed the AIS switch-off question directly, alongside force majeure and safe-port warranty…
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Kharg Is at a Standstill, and a Russian Shadow Fleet Convoy Runs the Arctic
At a Glance Overview Both sanctioned export pipelines are under their most acute enforcement pressure since the conflict began. On the Iranian side, Kharg Island’s crude export pipeline has been at a complete standstill since July 31, with all three terminals empty and zero Vortexa-recorded departures across 10 days. On the Russian side, an unprecedented…
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