I’m sure most of you have noticed the new maritime jargon adopted over the past year or two like the dark transit, ghost ship, shadow fleet, grey tanker.
Many of these terms came through media reporting and are now used so loosely that different situations begin to sound the same.
I have also heard claims of ships transiting Hormuz with AIS, navigation lights and normal communications switched off. Even then, a 300-metre steel tanker remains a large radar target. AIS silence removes its easiest public identity. It does not make the ship stealthy.
Here is my Master Mariner’s perspective on what “going dark” actually means:
Has anyone here received similar instructions in high-risk waters?