Season 2 · Episode 788
Dark Ships: The High-Stakes World of Maritime Tracking
Discover how OSINT investigators use satellite radar and AIS data to track "dark" ships and massive aircraft carriers across the open ocean.
My Weird Prompts · Daniel Rosehill
February 22, 202628m 25s
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Show Notes
While aviation tracking captures the public's imagination with real-time flight paths, the world of maritime intelligence offers a deeper, more technical mystery involving vessels the size of skyscrapers and secrets hidden in the vastness of the high seas. This episode explores the Automatic Identification System (AIS), the maritime equivalent of ADS-B, and examines why tracking a ship is a "slow-burn noir" compared to the fast-paced thriller of flight monitoring, requiring investigators to overcome the physical limitations of the Earth's curvature. We dive into the revolutionary role of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites that see through clouds and darkness to unmask "dark" ships, from the strategic digital signaling of the USS Gerald R. Ford in the Mediterranean to the complex hunt for shadow fleet tankers and illegal fishing vessels.