The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a new maritime sanctions advisory on April 16, 2025, that signals a pivotal shift in compliance expectations. The update doesn’t just revisit the deceptive shipping practices (DSPs) introduced in 2020, it expands the scope of what regulators consider red-flag behavior, particularly in connection with Iranian...
A significant anomaly in maritime activity was detected in Syrian waters last week (April 14-21, 2025), with 28 unique cargo vessels making port calls. This represents a 56% increase above the expected value of 18 vessels and exceeds the normal range of activity for the area. This spike follows a period of gradually increasing maritime...
The recent OFAC advisory on maritime sanctions has detailed a new bar of expectations applicable to a wide range of organizations involved in maritime supply chain and transportation. To meet the new expectations, businesses must incorporate proactive screening measures to identify ships that display Deceptive Shipping Practices and may be involved in sanctions evasion.
In the maritime domain, however, the data used for sanction screening is extremely noisy and dynamic, resulting in numerous ‘false positives.’ This creates alerts that trigger more in-depth investigations, oftentimes wasting time, and resources unnecessarily. These false positives, if not handled properly, are prone to translate into lost business opportunities and costly operational structures. If companies examine every single red flag that appears in AIS data, and conduct a manual investigation for each case, it would require an army to sort through the noise.
Key takeaways
False Positives are much more than a data problem – Investigations are costly and time-consuming, making false positives a serious operational challenge.
Mind the AIS gap – AIS data is extremely vulnerable to noise and manipulations, leading to large amounts of false positives that need to be resolved.
Focus investigations by reducing false positives – reducing false positives starts with data integrity and human expertise. The process can be accelerated by integrating artificial intelligence to automate behavior analysis and only flag cases that need an experienced human to examine.
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Risks & Compliance
The Need to Know Your Vessel™ is Highlighted in OFAC’s 2025 Advisory
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a new maritime sanctions advisory on April 16, 2025, that signals a pivotal shift in compliance expectations. The update doesn’t just revisit the deceptive shipping practices (DSPs) introduced in 2020, it expands the scope of what regulators consider red-flag behavior, particularly in connection with Iranian…
Explaining the Surge in Cargo-Vessel Port Calls to Syria
A significant anomaly in maritime activity was detected in Syrian waters last week (April 14-21, 2025), with 28 unique cargo vessels making port calls. This represents a 56% increase above the expected value of 18 vessels and exceeds the normal range of activity for the area. This spike follows a period of gradually increasing maritime…
5 Key Findings & Implications from RUSI’s Taskforce’s Last Report
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Maritime Sanctions Taskforce published its second meeting report at the beginning of 2025, offering an in-depth analysis of the evolving dynamics of the shadow fleet. This comprehensive document sheds light on the sophisticated methods employed by the fleet to circumvent international sanctions, particularly those targeting Russia and Iran. For…
Five Critical Data Security Considerations for Selecting a Maritime AI™ Partner
The Lesson in DeepSeek’s AI Data Leak… Data security and integrity have always been important, but with the rapid rise of generative AI, they’re now critical across industries. AI-powered insights and automation will only be as accurate, reliable, and effective as the data that is fed into systems and agents. Entrusting sensitive data to autonomous…
Webhooks Are Essential for Trading & Shipping: Now They’re Easy to Manage
A single day can mean millions in the trading and shipping (T&S) ecosystem, so staying ahead of risks is a must. But everything seems to be constantly changing, from fluctuating market conditions and geopolitical uncertainties, to evolving regulations and sanctions. Webhooks empower traders and shippers to react to risks in real-time. They deliver real-time alerts…
Here’s How Government Agencies Can Prosper Despite Declining Resources
The U.S. Coast Guard has long contended with personnel shortages. Over a year ago, one of its leaders outlined the issue: “The maritime force is operating with a deficit of about 4,800 members, or nearly 10% of its workforce, and anticipates an even larger shortfall this year due to struggles with recruiting, said Vice Adm….
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...
