Loaded to the brim, the huge oil tanker “Wrangler” passed through the Baltic Sea in September, also crossing German territorial waters. But the ship's satellite localization system constantly stopped transmitting signals during the journey. “Wrangler” disappeared from radar for nearly 22 hours, during which time it did not report its position to surrounding ships. This is shown by ship tracking databases.
Satellite navigation turned off
It is not clear whether this is a deliberate shutdown of the system or a defect in the tanker, which was built 24 years ago and is included in the EU sanctions list. However, it is certain that such failures are dangerous for shipping. And something else is striking: recently, suspicious ships are increasingly sailing with their satellite navigation turned off, writes ARD.
The German media NDR, WDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung“ and their international partners have read the stored information on the routes of ships from the Russian “shadow fleet“ in the Baltic Sea. The analysis shows that “incidents“ such as the one described above with “Wrangler“ have increased significantly since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By the beginning of 2025, their number had doubled compared to the cases registered in 2022, when Russia began the war against Ukraine.
Western security services include the “shadow fleet“ Putin has almost 1,400 ships controlled by Russia, including oil and gas tankers that are allegedly used to circumvent sanctions. In addition to these, cargo ships suspected of transporting weapons to Russia, as well as ships of sanctioned Russian companies, ARD explains.
Several thousand violations per year
Especially in the Baltic Sea, ships from Putin's "shadow fleet" are increasingly sailing with their satellite tracking systems turned off. While there were several hundred such cases in 2022, in subsequent years their number has increased to several thousand within a year. This statistic includes cases where ships have become "invisible" for other participants in maritime traffic for more than eight hours or when they have traveled at least 200 kilometers in this way.
The data is from Global Fishing Watch and covers all cases of sailing with a switched off or non-working automatic identification system (AIS) in the period from January 2020 to September 1, 2025. The data was analyzed by journalists from „Follow the Money“ and „Pointer“.
Since 2000, larger ships have been obliged to transmit an AIS signal. Along with radar, it is the most important tool for preventing collisions - especially in busy waters such as the Baltic Sea, explains ARD.
Deliberate concealment of activity
In the Baltic Sea, localization is particularly often violated or disabled near Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg. Experts suggest that the aim is a deliberate cover-up. According to them, Russia maintains weapons depots as well as important oil export ports near St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. The sharp increase in these cases since 2022 may also be a preventive measure against possible attacks by Ukrainian drones.
The localization can be turned off manually by the vessel's crew, the German publication further states. However, the system can also be manipulated, for example by entering the wrong coordinates - spoofing (from English spoofing - ed. note). “When the oil tankers of the “shadow fleet“ arrive at the ports of Primorsk or Ust-Luga, they falsify their signal and shift it closer to the Finnish coast“, explains Margo Garcia from the non-governmental organization “Center for Advanced Defense Studies“ (C4ADS).
The data shows that these ships are constantly moving in circles off the coast of Finland - which is practically impossible for such large tankers.
Tanker with an estimated speed of 50 knots
According to satellite images, the 24-year-old tanker “Wrangler“ was also at the oil export terminal in the port of Ust-Luga before starting its journey across the Baltic Sea. However, according to AIS data, the tanker was moving at a speed of 50 knots - more than 90 km/h - towards the Finnish coast, where it reportedly began making semi-circles. It is clearly a matter of manipulated data about its location, ARD emphasizes.
In a similar spoofing attack in early November on ship tracking platforms such as Marine Traffic and Vesselfinder, thousands of ships suddenly appeared in the Baltic Sea. Among them were both military and civilian vessels that should have been scrapped years ago. The attack then lasted about half an hour. This case shows how vulnerable the ship localization system is.
Although the malfunctions in the localization system violate the law of the sea, ships can only be controlled in international waters with the consent of the state under whose flag they fly. And these states can cooperate, but are not obliged to do so. In European ports, the authorities could take measures, but the ships in question do not dock there.
The reasons are mainly economic
Behind the described localization problems, which have become more frequent since 2022, there are mainly economic reasons, such as the concealment of the illegal sale of Russian oil. This is probably why the tanker “Wrangler“ becomes “invisible” while it is in the open sea between Oman and India. According to ship tracking platforms, at that moment the sanctioned “Arabesca” was also located right next to it – again from the Russian “shadow fleet“. After the meeting “Wrangler” already had a different displacement – a sure indication that it had been unloaded.
How far “Arabesca” carried the alleged transferred cargo is unclear, as the tanker turned off its radio signal both before and after the meeting. The owners of “Wrangler” from a letterbox company registered in the Seychelles were not available for questions from investigative journalists, the ARD publication also says.
Authors: ARD - Alice Pesavento, Benedict Strunz, Tamara Antoni