Over 20 types of AIS message exist-some for supertankers, others for pleasure boaters-and each contains multiple data fields covering everything from navigational information to arcane communication settings. “The fake messages were very plausible, except that we had this confirmation from the Swedish navy that the positions were false,” he says. He noticed immediately that these were no amateur pranks or accidents. “But we want to understand generally how the data is being falsified and what we can do to detect and correct it.”īergman identified the nine warships from a screenshot in the story, then compared their fake AIS messages to genuine messages broadcast by the same vessels before and after the imposters. “At SkyTruth, we’re particularly concerned where fake data is impacting fishing,” said Bergman in a video call interview. Only a few of these fake tracks have previously been reported, and all share characteristics that suggest a common perpetrator. Some of these tracks show the warships approaching foreign naval bases or intruding into disputed waters, activities that could escalate tension in hot spots like the Black Sea and the Baltic. The Queen Elizabeth and its flotilla were previously unreported victims of a disturbing trend: warships having their positions-and even entire voyages-faked using the automatic identification system, a wireless radio technology designed to prevent collisions at sea.Īccording to analysis conducted by conservation technology nonprofit SkyTruth and Global Fishing Watch, over 100 warships from at least 14 European countries, Russia, and the US appear to have had their locations faked, sometimes for days at a time, since August 2020. In fact, satellite imagery of their supposed locations shows nothing but deep blue sea, and news reports suggest the warships were actually scattered in distant ports at the time. The six vessels moving in close formation would have made an awe-inspiring spectacle-if they had actually been there.
The 283-meter-long fleet flagship was flanked by an escort of destroyers and smaller ships from the UK, Dutch, and Belgian navies. On September 17 last year, the largest ship in the UK's Royal Navy, the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, steamed majestically towards the Irish Sea.
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