The ability to locate by satellite systems on many cargo ships and oil tankers operating in the Middle East is currently even worse than ordinary mobile phones. Experts assessing this technological weakness explains why about 1,000 ships in the Middle East have lost the ability to locate after the signal was interfered with, The Japan Times reported on March 9.
Signal loss is common in the Persian Gulf and Oman Gulf. Mr. Dimitris Ampatzidis, an analyst at Kpler data company, said that the 1,000 ships account for about half of the vehicles operating in the area, mostly off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Technological disparity is the core cause. While smartphones can receive signals from four global satellite systems including the US, Europe, Russia and China, many ships only receive initial civilian positioning signals (L1 C/A) used since the early 1990s.
Mr. Todd Humphreys, Professor at the University of Texas, said that ships do not have a backup system when L1 C/A signals are interfered with. This situation also occurs in the aviation industry, when commercial aircraft today are not equipped with positioning receivers that can handle signals beyond the outdated L1 C/A standard.
Ms. Katherine Dunn, author of a book on the history of satellite navigation, said that jamming is actually quite simple. Organizations only need to use a radio transmitter on the same frequency with a stronger intensity to create a "jamming wall".
Even more dangerous is the technique of forging signals, directly affecting the automatic identification system of ships. Instead of notifying the exact identity and location every second, the intervened system will send out incorrect coordinates. This causes ships moving at sea to appear on the map as if they are on land in Iran or Gulf countries.
Today, positioning signals also provide data for watches, radars and speed measuring devices. According to a cargo ship captain, with the enormous size of modern ships, electronic navigation is mandatory. When signals are lost, the crew is forced to reuse 20th-century tools such as terrain marker observation or manual radar. This poses extremely high risks even when the ship is safely escorted through the Strait of Hormuz.
Experts believe that disruptive behavior currently serves both attack and defense purposes. Some Gulf countries have directed their disruptive systems to the sea to prevent Iranian drones, even though they know it will disrupt civil maritime. Israel and Iran have also applied similar tactics in conflicts.
Although technology companies are developing alternative methods based on Earth magnetic fields or inertial navigation, bringing giant ships to move safely without satellite systems is still a story of the future.
