Strait of Hormuz becoming digital minefield of AIS/GPS manipulation, says Pole Star Global

Amid news that Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei says that the Strait of Hormuz should ‘remain closed’ and that the Wesy should brace itself for $200-a-barrel oil prices, maritime intelligence company Pole Star Global’s Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Saleem Khan (pictured), provides the follow update and commentary:

“Since 5 March, Pole Star Global has tracked 3,396 vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly 1 in 15 of them, 231 ships, are exhibiting suspicious positional anomalies. “Jumping” implausible distances, going briefly “ghosted,” or reappearing in patterns consistent with GPS and AIS interference. This is no longer a story about isolated glitches; it’s a systematic, geographically clustered distortion of reality at sea.

“At the same time, we are seeing a near‑total cessation of commercial traffic through the Strait, and some ships leaving the region are broadcasting extraordinary ‘destinations’ such as ‘China Owner and All Crew’, turning what should be a navigational field into a live political message: don’t shoot, we’re not your target.

“Beyond the chokepoint, about 540 oil tankers carrying an estimated 314 million barrels are currently at sea with no fixed destination, listed simply as ‘awaiting orders’, effectively a $30 billion floating oil exchange waiting for a safe route and a safe buyer.

“Pole Star Global is a leading maritime intelligence company, fusing AIS, satellite detections, ownership, and behavioural analytics to help governments, insurers, and shipping companies separate malfunction from manipulation. Our data offers an unusually granular view into how conflict, coercion, and digital deception are reshaping global trade in real time – and where the next fractures might appear.”