The Ukraine Seaports Authority has warned ship operators that GPS in the Black Sea was subject to interference.
The authority said that masters of vessels sailing to Greater Odesa “should be informed about the high probability of losing satellite navigation and spoofing”, reported Bloomberg, citing a letter to shipowners sent last week which it had seen. The letter did not name the source of the disruption.
Russia has been trying to obstruct various European communication systems since its invasion of Ukraine. Such Russian actions in the Black Sea would make military sense as it is primarily part of Russia’s defence against Ukrainian drone attacks.
The disruption to shipping signals in the Black Sea is “getting worse every day,” according to Andriy Klimenko, Ukraine-based head of the Monitoring Group of the Institute of Black Sea Strategic Studies. Side effects of Russia disrupting GPS in order to battle Ukrainian drones are an interference with Ukrainian exports and increasing difficulty in tracking Russian oil exports, he said. Neither of these would be particularly unwelcome to Russia.
The jamming or spoofing is affecting all ships in the area, according to Klimenko.
Kpler analyst Ishan Bhanu estimated that at least 40 vessels in the Black Sea were currently broadcasting a “compromised” AIS location, with about a third of ships loading Russian coal showing an incorrect position.