Ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding seas have started transmitting unusual messages announcing their countries of allegiance in an attempt not to become targets with tensions between Iran and Israel remaining high, Reuters reports, based on maritime analytics firm Windward.
The trend is said to have started after the recent 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which led to US strikes against Iranian nuclear targets. Even though there has been an imposed ceasefire facilitated by US President Donald Trump, maritime security threats in the region are still elevated.
The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) has confirmed that the threat to ships is still high, even after the hostilities have ceased. Windward CEO Ami Daniel added that because of the intricacies involved in ownership and registration of vessels, owners of ships are trying to define national alignments to shed Western affiliation, deemed to be at higher risk namely the US, UK, and Israel.
From June 12 to June 24, Windward spotted 101 anomalous messages from 55 ships passing through the Gulf and Red Sea. The messages contained words like “China owned” or “Russian crude,” which sought to indicate non-Western origins in the hope of scaring off attacks.
Maritime commercial traffic in the area increased by 30% on June 24, a day after the announced ceasefire, JMIC said.
Normally, ships usually transmit voyage information or common signals such as “For Orders.” When navigating in high-risk areas, vessels occasionally announce “Armed Guards on Board.” The recent announcements are, however, quite distinct and more political in nature.
Such examples include the Chinese container ship Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan flashing “PKKHI all Chinese” on its way to Pakistan, and the Chinese Yuan Yang Hu transmitting “Chinese ship” when sailing through the strait.
In addition, JMIC cautioned of rising electronic interference to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which would create further threats to maritime navigation.