Geopolitical tensions, technological shifts, and supply chain volatility are persistent challenges, forcing organizations to rethink their strategies. But with every challenge comes opportunity. Based on insights from Windward’s 2025 Top Trends in Global Trade report, this blog post explores how those who can anticipate and adapt to disruptions – whether due to shifting trade routes,...
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued sweeping sanctions against over 180 vessels and 170 companies connected to Russian energy exports, shadow fleet operations, maritime insurance, and oilfield services. These actions are part of a broader effort to disrupt Russia’s revenue streams and target networks that enable sanctions evasion. The implications...
Deceptive shipping practices are tactics employed by bad actors to avoid detection and possible sanctions. But why are maritime stakeholders under the spotlight? The reason that regulators continuously shift increasing responsibility on due diligence towards the maritime ecosystem is because shipping plays a significant role in the global supply chain. This fact hasn’t been overlooked by regulators, as they. The recent advisory from U.S. authorities has, for the first time, detailed the responsibilities and expectations that private businesses connected to the maritime sector must adhere to.
OFAC numbered seven deceptive shipping practices that should be part of an effective compliance process. But simply knowing about them is not enough. How do you identify deceptive shipping practices with traditional matching tools? Well, you can’t. Bad actors today have become experts of their craft and the only way to keep up is with dynamic, AI-powered tools.
As trade sanctions increase, knowing which vessels you can safely do business with is of growing importance across the wider business environment. Today, it is not enough to “Know Your Customer” (KYC); you need to “Know Your Vessel” (KYV). And only strong tools are capable of identifying real-time risk factors at the vessel level.
We recently published a guide on exactly what executives need to know when it comes to deceptive shipping practices. Below are some key takeaways:
New decade, new standards – recent advisories published by U.S. and U.K authorities have raised the bar for players across the supply chain
Goodbye matching tools – Identifying deceptive shipping practices is drastically different from traditional sanctions list screening.
By analyzing vessel behaviors, organizations can proactively identify counterparties that may expose them to sanctions risk.
A sophisticated regulatory environment calls for a sophisticated solution. So what should you do? Onboard more tools and train more staff? The resulting costs and resources, without necessarily more accuracy, can outweigh the benefits. To help our partners manage at risk at scale, Windward automatically vets risk, while accounting for hundreds of risk factors in real-time.
Get the guide to learn more.
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How to Shift from Reactive to Proactive This Year
Geopolitical tensions, technological shifts, and supply chain volatility are persistent challenges, forcing organizations to rethink their strategies. But with every challenge comes opportunity. Based on insights from Windward’s 2025 Top Trends in Global Trade report, this blog post explores how those who can anticipate and adapt to disruptions – whether due to shifting trade routes,…
OFAC’s Bold Move to Disrupt Russian Energy Exports
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued sweeping sanctions against over 180 vessels and 170 companies connected to Russian energy exports, shadow fleet operations, maritime insurance, and oilfield services. These actions are part of a broader effort to disrupt Russia’s revenue streams and target networks that enable sanctions evasion. The implications…
The Latest Underwater Cable-Cutting Incident Involves Identity Tampering
Taiwanese authorities have accused a Chinese freighter of cutting a subsea communications cable just off the coast of Keelung on January 3, 2025. This latest critical underwater infrastructure incident, following three relatively recent underwater infrastructure disruptions in the Baltic Sea, is murky and involves identity tampering. Four seemingly different vessels, with different names, IMOs, MMSIs,…
Geopolitics → Sanctions → Trade Flows: Expect the Shift
Geopolitics, sanctions, and trade flows are intertwined forces that shape the maritime and trade landscape. We’ll see how these dynamics continue to evolve this year, driving both opportunities and challenges for stakeholders. Based on insights from Windward’s 2025 Top Trends in Global Trade report, this blog post explores the shifting tides of deceptive shipping practices,…
The Eagle S and the Threat to Underwater Infrastructure
Media outlets reported that Finnish authorities have seized a ship in the Baltic Sea on suspicion it caused the outage of an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia. This ship, known as the Eagle S, docked in Ust Luga, Russia on December 23, 2024. It disabled its AIS signal for ten hours, reappearing two…
The Journey to Success: Celebrating Windward’s 200th Customer Milestone
Windward is proud to announce a significant milestone in our journey: reaching 200 customers. The success we have achieved for and with our ocean freight, trading and shipping, and government customers stems from our ability to provide innovative technology and services that produce AI-powered, actionable insights. Customers choose Windward and then stay with us for...
Webinar: Russia’s Invasion Impact on Maritime Deception and Ecosystem
Windward’s webinar brought together a diverse group of experts to cut through the noise around the impact of Russia’s war on the diverse maritime ecosystem. Exclusive data from Windward’s Maritime AI™ platform, along with insights from the industry-expert guests, enabled the sharing of unique perspectives. The webinar was filled with actionable tactics and ideas that...
Navigating deception: the impact of Russia’s invasion on the maritime ecosystem
Windward’s webinar brought together a diverse group of experts to cut through the noise around the impact of Russia’s war on the diverse maritime ecosystem. Exclusive data from Windward’s Maritime AI™ platform, along with insights from the industry-expert guests, enabled the sharing of unique perspectives. The webinar was filled with actionable tactics and ideas that...
By Irit Singer, Chief Marketing Officer, Windward 2022 was the year that the maritime ecosystem collectively realized that there is simply too much raw data for manual parsing and the landscape changes too rapidly. The world seemed to go crazy: Coronavirus and closures…war, sanctions, and a price cap…new deceptive shipping practices…plummeting ocean freight prices and...
