Shadow-fleet tankers spoof satellite tracking in Black Sea, FT finds

Russian shadow-fleet oil tankers have used fake satellite-tracking data to disguise their position and route through the Black Sea, apparently to evade drone attacks, the Financial Times reported, according to Slovak outlet Aktuality.sk. The tankers broadcast two different positions at once through the AIS tracking system, altering data about their identity, course and speed.

The deception becomes visible when the ships leave the Black Sea through Turkey's Bosphorus strait, where they must activate a genuine AIS signal or Turkish authorities will not allow them to pass, while continuing to transmit a false, frozen position from elsewhere, said Ollie Ballinger, an expert on shadow-fleet tracking at University College London's Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. He tracked six tankers doing this in recent months.

On 27 August, the Russian-flagged tanker Pirop transmitted two sets of coordinates at once: one placing it near the Bosphorus, the other about 800km away off the Turkish coast, according to data cited by Aktuality.sk. Most of the vessels involved recently switched to the Russian flag, including Pirop in August, according to shipping data firm Pole Star Global.

Russia has registered dozens of ships under its own flag in recent months after naval forces from France, Britain and Belgium began boarding vessels sailing under a false flag or no flag while carrying Russian oil, acting under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. A stateless vessel is more exposed to action by other states because it lacks the legal protection of a flag state.

The reported deception comes as NATO said it would send additional maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea after a string of deadly drone attacks on commercial ships, following a meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels, Romanian outlet G4Media reported, citing the Guardian. Russia's military said it struck three cargo ships in Ukraine's port of Reni and two more heading for Odesa, G4Media reported.

Romania intercepted two suspected Russian drones over its territory at the weekend, Defence Minister Radu Miruță said. The drones were flying at around 450 km/h, which he said suggested they were Russia's Geran-4 model fitted with a turboprop engine. "This is the first time we have shot down drones of this type," Miruță said. Romania has recorded 35 unauthorised drone incursions into its airspace this year, against nine in 2025, and its forces have shot down six drones this year against none last year, G4Media reported.