Inside the shadow fleet and the new era of maritime enforcement

 In this episode of Trade Treasury Payments, host Carter Hoffman speaks with Michelle Bockmann, Senior Maritime Intelligence Analyst at Windward, about the growing role of shadow fleets in global shipping. Their conversation explores how sanctioned oil from countries such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela moves through maritime trade using tactics designed to conceal its origin and destination. Michelle explains how practices such as false flagging, ship to ship transfers and the manipulation or shutdown of vessel tracking systems allow these ships to operate outside the traditional rules based framework of international shipping. The discussion also looks at how maritime intelligence, satellite data and AI driven analysis are helping analysts identify suspicious behaviour at sea. Along the way, they consider the wider geopolitical forces shaping trade routes, the risks these ageing vessels pose to maritime safety and the environment, and the often overlooked human impact on the seafarers working on board.