Maritime Sanctions Evasion

Most sanctioned trade by sea depends on hiding which vessel carried what and where. Ships broadcast identity and position through the Automatic Identification System (AIS). Evaders switch it off, or send false positions, which is called AIS spoofing, so a tanker appears to be somewhere it is not. Flag-hopping means changing a vessel’s registry often, or using a fraudulent one, so that records and inspections cannot keep up. In a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer, cargo is moved between two vessels at sea, away from ports, which breaks the paper trail between loading and delivery. These methods are usually combined with forged cargo documents, one-ship companies with hidden owners and weak insurance. Banks meet the problem through trade finance, charter payments, bunker fuel and port charges, where the paperwork may not match the voyage. One routine-looking payment can leave a bank sharing in a breach that happened far out at sea.

A trade finance team at a regional bank is asked to pay for a crude oil cargo said to be loaded in one country. Vessel-tracking data shows the tanker went dark for nine days, the bill of lading names a port the ship never visited, and the vessel changed flag twice in a year. The bank holds the payment, asks for explanations, and escalates the file to sanctions compliance.