Five Iranian-flagged tankers are loitering together west of Penang, Malaysia. Theia detected one of them, Deyra, dark on 25 May after a brief four-day round trip into the Indian Ocean. By 5 June it was sitting alongside four more: Serena, Humanity, Dune, Salina. Still there as of 9 June.

That's a wrap on SSD 2026. Two days of sharp conversations on dark-vessel tracking, spoofing, and sanctions evasion at sea, and showing what Theia sees when AIS goes quiet. Thanks to everyone who stopped by.

Day one of SSD 2026 has been a great start. We’ve had some really good conversations today around the future of maritime intelligence and how combining satellite imagery, AIS and advanced intelligence fusion delivers the ground truth needed to understand what’s really happening at sea. Hoping for more of the same tomorrow. Come find us at Stand Y15 Hall C. #SSD2026 #MaritimeSecurity #MDA #SynMax #Theia

High-resolution imagery of the Petersburg Oil Terminal, captured by SynMax Theia on June 7. Drone strikes reportedly damaged the facility four days earlier, on June 3. A destroyed storage tank and structural scarring across the tank farm are clearly visible. So are two Aframax crude oil tankers, already at the berths: Minerva Sophia — IMO 9382762, 249m, Malta-flagged, built 2009. Assessed to be the tanker at berth PNT-4. No AIS transmissions for the port call. Identified optically. Ameinon — IMO 9843572, 250m, Liberia-flagged, built 2019. At berth PNT-3. Detected AIS-light. The damage was real. Operations resumed within days. SynMax Theia fuses electro-optical and SAR imagery with global AIS to detect, identify, and track vessels and infrastructure, including when transmissions go dark.

Today, on World Ocean Day, we draw attention to the threat that illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing poses to the world's oceans, and to the support networks that allow the fishing vessels to operate 365 days a year. To remain at sea for weeks or months at a time, distant water fleets rely on a comprehensive logistics chain to refuel and resupply, collect the catch, provide medical assistance, and facilitate crew transfers through on-site ship-to-ship (STS) transfers. These enablers allow large fleets to operate continuously, far beyond the traditional reach of regional fishing fleets, and launder their illegal catch into legitimate supply chains. By targeting this support network, regulators can have a disproportionate impact on the operational capacity of distant water fleets. Between the 25th of February and the 8th of March 2026, SynMax's maritime domain awareness platform, Theia, tracked the XING FA (IMO 1063528), a 22-year-old, 96-meter Sierra Leone-flagged oil products tanker, as she transited from the Gulf of Oman into the northern Arabian Sea. Between the 1st and 6th of March, the XING FA is assessed to have conducted at least 11 ship-to-ship encounters with vessels from the XING BANG fishing fleet, part of the Chinese Distant Water Fleet. On the 6th of March, AIS recorded a transfer involving the XING FA, the XING BANG 906, and the XING BANG 905. A Theia tip-and-cue tasking captured both fishing vessels alongside the XING FA, with a slick visible in the surrounding water. On the 8th of March, the XING FA returned towards the Gulf of Oman. Theia fuses vast datasets, including more than 40 million km² of satellite imagery daily, to automatically detect, identify, and track tens of thousands of vessels across oceans, and provide the ground truth needed to protect marine resources and the communities that depend on them. SynMax's Agentic AI identifies the support vessel networks and their patterns of life that sustain IUU fishing, multiplying analysts' capacity to expose and disrupt the networks behind it.

Day one of the Commonwealth MDA Summit in Vancouver, well underway. Good conversations on deceptive vessel behaviour, AIS gaps, and building a fuller operational picture from satellite imagery and AI. More sessions ahead, then day two tomorrow.

We are very pleased to have supported the @HighNorthNews' latest investigation, authored by @malte_humpert, into renewed movement around Russia's sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. The analysis examines the first Train 3 construction modules to leave China in nearly two years, tracking their journey toward the Russian Arctic aboard sanctioned heavy-lift vessels. Vessel-detection data from SynMax's maritime domain awareness platform, Theia, was instrumental in identifying the heavy-lift barge and tracking the transfer of the modules between Chinese ports before they were loaded aboard oceangoing transport vessels.

The first Arctic LNG 2 modules to leave China in years are heading to Russia #LNG #Russia #Arctic #China #Sanctions en.highnorthnews.com/politic…

SynMax is pleased to be attending the Commonwealth Maritime Domain Awareness Summit 2026 in Vancouver, Canada, on 3–4 June. Hosted by @CommonwealthSy, the summit brings together maritime authorities, policymakers, naval leaders, and industry experts to explore the technologies, partnerships, and information-sharing frameworks shaping the future of #MaritimeDomainAwareness. If you'll be attending the summit and would like to connect with our team, please reach out via DM. We look forward to seeing you in #Vancouver. #MaritimeDomainAwareness #MaritimeSecurity #MaritimeIntelligence

SynMax is delighted to be attending Posidonia 2026 at the Metropolitan Expo in Athens, Greece, from the 1st to the 5th of June, alongside our partners @LLIntelligence .  One of the world's most renowned shipping exhibitions, Posidonia brings together maritime professionals from across the globe. It is a privilege to be among them, and we look forward to connecting with the wider maritime community across the week. Visitors can find us at the Lloyd's List Intelligence (LLI) booth, stand 2.203 in Hall 2, where our team will be on hand to discuss our partnership, through which we provide LLI customers with access to satellite intelligence reports, supporting with deeper visibility when investigating incidents or uncovering increasingly deceptive shipping practices.  If you would like to arrange a meeting with our maritime SMEs, please don't hesitate to reach out directly via DM. We look forward to seeing you in Athens.  @PosidoniaEvents

Between the 21st of April and the 2nd of May 2026, three commercial vessels were hijacked off the coast of Somalia and Yemen in a significant resurgence of Somali piracy, assessed to be highly likely carried out by Somali pirate action groups (PAGs) operating from the Puntland coast. The HONOUR 25 (IMO 1099735), the SWARD (IMO 9174244), and the M/T EUREKA (IMO 1022823) remain under pirate control. SynMax's maritime domain awareness platform, Theia, has tracked the vessels throughout their ordeals, detecting each off the Puntland coast as recently as the 28th of May. The HONOUR 25 (IMO 1099735) is a Palau-registered product tanker. She was seized on the 21st of April while en route from Berbera, Somaliland, to Mogadishu, while laden with refined oil. Theia detected her on the 28th of May, anchored off the Puntland coast south of Bayla. On the 26th of April, the SWARD (IMO 9174244), a 100-meter general cargo ship built in 1998 and flagged in St. Kitts and Nevis, was hijacked approximately six nautical miles northeast of Garacad, Somalia. At the time, she was reportedly transiting to Mombasa with a cargo of cement. Theia imaged her on the 28th of May in the vicinity of Dhingwda, approximately 200km south of the other two vessels. The M/T EUREKA (IMO 1022823) is an 88-meter, Togo-flagged product tanker, built in 2006. She was seized off Yemen's Shabwa coast on the 2nd of May while transporting diesel from the UAE. Continuous tracking and the ability to dynamically tip-and-cue high-resolution imagery enabled the tasking of @Satellogic imagery of the M/T EUREKA on the 23rd of May, confirming her position in the vicinity of Bayla. The geographic spread of the three vessels along the Puntland coastline is consistent with established patterns of Somali piracy. It is believed that organized crime groups in Somalia are taking advantage of the Iran war to launch hijackings, as international naval patrols, first deployed in 2008 to counter the pirates, have been stretched thin by current events around Hormuz and the Red Sea. Theia ingests more than 40 million km² of satellite imagery daily, fusing electro-optical and SAR imagery with real-time global AIS to automatically detect, identify, and track tens of thousands of vessels, regardless of their signal output. Tip-and-cue capabilities automatically task high-resolution imagery of vessels of interest, while SynMax's Agentic AI enables the precise interrogation of vast, preprocessed datasets, massively increasing analysts' capacity and exposing true unknown unknowns.

SynMax has joined the Esri Partner Network. For existing Esri customers, the integration streamlines workflows by embedding SynMax's intelligence layers where they already operate. For SynMax customers, it opens access to Esri's world-class geospatial platform. For both, it delivers a new class of decision-ready data within a single operational environment.

Striking high-resolution imagery of Arctic Metagaz with hull damage clearly visible. Arctic Metagaz is a 277m LNG carrier, OFAC/UK/EU sanctioned, with AIS off since March 2. Reportedly damaged and unmanned since March. LNG and fuel onboard. Position has stabilized off Libya, suggesting anchor rather than drift.

33M vessel detections. 59,000 AIS spoofing instances. 136,000 STS transfers. 164,000 dark ship detections. That's not an investigation backlog. That's what Theia processed in 2025, automatically, from 130M km² of daily satellite imagery. 12 case studies. Year in Review live now: synmax.com/scrollytelling/th…

Service and sacrifice are the foundation of the freedoms we work to protect. This Memorial Day, SynMax honors and remembers the American service members who gave their lives in defense of this country.

In the last week, we have been proud to continue our relationship with @Reuters, contributing SynMax intelligence to four investigations examining the strategic significance of the Strait of Hormuz and its ongoing impact on global geopolitics. The articles explore a range of issues, including the movement of tankers carrying Iranian crude, a Chinese container ship crossing the strait, Iran's consolidation of control through checkpoints and diplomatic arrangements, and the transit of a supertanker carrying Iraqi crude after it was held by the US Navy. Read Reuters' investigations here: reuters.com/world/asia-pacif… reuters.com/investigations/i… reuters.com/business/energy/… reuters.com/world/china/chin…

It’s fantastic to have collaborated once again with @Reuters, providing data for their special report on Iran's consolidation of control over the Strait of Hormuz. The investigation examines how Iran has established a multi-tiered clearance mechanism for vessels transiting the strait, administered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). SynMax's analysis exposes the scale of the disruption: between the 18th of April and the 6th of May 2026, fewer than 60 vessels transited the strait. Before the war, between 120 and 140 ships made the crossing on a typical day.

Loading at Jose Terminal, Venezuela. STS south of Curaçao. U.S. seizure 3 days later. Theia documented the entire sequence through satellite imagery before, during, and after. 136,000 STS transfer events tracked by SynMax through imagery in 2025. Year in Review: synmax.com/scrollytelling/th…