Areas around the Middle East conflict zone have witnessed GPS jamming incidents, in which ships' navigational data is altered or interfered with.

The areas impacted by the jamming increased mainly in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Ships appearing in Middle Eastern airports

According to vessel-tracking data, around 117 distinct cargo-carrying vessels arrived at Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport in Lebanon on 4 April.

"An average of 35 ships operating in the region were being impacted each day in March," says Lloyd's List. This figure, however, increased to 74 on 3 April and climbed to 117 on 4 April.

Another spoof area where ships appeared is Cairo International Airport, where 45 ships indicated their location this week.

Ships appearing in impossible locations—such as these airports—occur due to jamming the global navigation satellite system, a form of GPS spoofing.

This strategy is often used as a protective measure during war.

Over 200 instances in the Black Sea

GPS jamming has also frequently affected the Black Sea as part of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

According to Lloyd's List, the number of vessels appearing near Moscow airport surged in January and has remained consistently high since.

Additionally, Kyiv airport has become a new "spoofed" location, with vessels sailing in the eastern Black Sea and around the Kerch Strait appearing there.

On 1 April, 227 vessels originally sailing in the Black Sea were detected across various land locations, marking one of the highest instances of disrupted vessels since these incidents began.

Impact on seaexplorer data so far

The GPS jamming has not visibly impacted the prediction of container vessels' arrival and departure times or vessel tracking information on Kuehne+Nagel's supply chain planning platform seaexplorer in myKN.

The company will monitor the situation closely and report updates accordingly.