Ship Tracking Data Used to Attack Tankers, Saudi Aramco Chief Says

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said on Monday that satellite imagery and detailed ship tracking data is increasingly being used to attack infrastructure and oil tankers.

“Satellite imaging and shipping logs are increasingly being weaponised against infrastructure and tankers. Tools of transparency should not become ammunition for aggression,” Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum.

“Technology offers immense benefit, but also poses serious risks,” Nasser said.

Oil markets follow headlines on the US-Israeli war on Iran, including those based on satellite imagery and ship tracking data.

The UN shipping agency IMO estimates there have been around 91 incidents involving ships that have been hit and 24 seafarers killed in the Persian Gulf since the start of the Iran war on February 28.

More and more vessels in the region are switching off their transponders, or AIS systems, to avoid detection or identification to mitigate the threat of missile and drone attacks.

Previously, this practice of, “going dark,” was usually employed by vessels in the so-called shadow fleet used to transport sanctioned Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan crude outside of Western markets and services.