October 1, 2026
Vessels Loiter Over Subsea Cables and Pipelines Across Five Theaters
2022 Windward’s Maritime Risk Summary
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- The EU’s 18th Sanctions Package Lookback Started. Trading Russian Products? You're At Risk. Nov 24, 2025
- Tanker Freight Rates Hit Five-Year High Amid Russian Oil Sanctions Shake-Out Nov 6, 2025
- Sanctioned, Stateless, and Still Sailing: Expert Insights from the Frontlines of Maritime Sanctions Nov 3, 2025
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Forty-Five Shadow Fleet Tankers Link to a Single Hong Kong Nominee
At a Glance One Nominee, Forty-Five Companies, Forty-Five Tankers Windward’s visual link analysis has identified 45 Russia-trading shadow fleet tankers connected through 45 single-ship Hong Kong companies to one beneficial owner. All but three share 19 different ISM managers with addresses in the same industrial cluster in the Azerbaijani city of Sumqayit. 42 of the...
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What Is the Shadow Fleet, and Why Is It So Hard to Count?
At a Glance There Is No Official Shadow Fleet List The shadow fleet, also called the dark fleet, refers to tankers and support vessels that rely on deceptive shipping practices to move sanctioned or high-risk commodities while concealing their true origin, ownership, or destination. That definition is broadly recognized in practice. It has no standing...
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Suez Transits Are Up 59%, and Rates Are About to Fall
At a Glance Carriers Have Returned to Suez, and the Data Confirms It Maritime media sources state that container shipping is moving from a capacity shortage to a surplus as carriers return to Suez and shorter voyages free up ships. Windward MIOC data supports this claim. Suez containership transits rose 59% from March to September,...
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How to Track Dark Vessels When AIS Goes Silent
2,157 cargo ships and tankers over 10,000 DWT went dark in Q2 2026, nearly five times the 449 recorded in Q1. Prolonged dark events, three days or longer, rose sevenfold to 3,137. Russia alone recorded roughly 4,000 dark activity events in the quarter. The Gap Is Now the Norm 2,157 cargo ships and tankers over...
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Ship-to-Ship Relays Are Moving Cargo Across the Strait of Hormuz in Two Stages
At a Glance One Tanker Met Fifteen Counterparts in Ninety Days Between May 27 and August 27, 2026, Windward tracked a Barbados-flagged product tanker of roughly 40,000 deadweight tonnes across two anchorage clusters at opposite ends of the Strait of Hormuz. Inside the Gulf, it worked the Basrah and Kuwait anchorages. Outside, it worked Fujairah...
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