FT: Ships In The Persian Gulf Are Impersonating Chinese Vessels
- 7.03.2026, 11:52
To avoid Iranian attacks.
At least 10 ships in the Persian Gulf have changed their signals via transponders, indicating that they belong to China and have Chinese crew. To avoid Iranian attacks, some ships are spoofing their GPS signals.
This is reported by Financial Times.
The publication reports that over the past week, at least 10 ships have changed their signals in the automatic identification system to the phrases "Chinese owner," "Fully Chinese crew," or "Chinese crew on board."
According to the Lloyd's Market Association, there are now about 1,000 ships in and around the Persian Gulf blockaded with a total value of about $25 billion.
Captains are resorting to camouflage as Iran fires on ships not only in the Strait of Hormuz but also in the northern Gulf - particularly off Kuwait, where a drone damaged an empty tanker on Wednesday.
In another tactic to avoid attacks, some ships are manipulating their GPS signals to mislead guided missiles. This causes ships to appear crowded together at one point or overlapping on maps of monitoring services.
Ships that spoof their transponder signals come in a variety of types, from container ships to oil tankers.
In particular, some are loaded and some are empty. Most of these vessels remain in the bay.
As the FT writes, some vessels choose another way to disguise themselves. For example, last Saturday, February 28, the oil tanker Bogazici crossed the strait pretending to be the Muslim Vsl Turkish. After the danger passed, it reverted back to its real name.
According to analyst Matthew Wright of the Kpler platform, the ship's captain is responsible for the transponder signal, which is mainly needed to communicate with other ships and avoid collisions. However, the destination field is easy to change.
He noted that crews can specify any information and use this to hide their connections to certain ports, destinations or nationalities.
Wright said the practice first appeared in the Red Sea in 2023, when Yemen's Houthi rebels began attacking commercial ships.
It is not yet clear whether Iranian forces treat ships that claim ties to China differently. However, crews seem willing to do anything to reduce the risk of being targeted.