MCAD Maritime Cyber Attack Database
Year2019 |
MonthJune |
Reference number20190602 |
Impact areaVessel |
Incident locationDalian |
Incident countryChina |
Victim countryChina |
Victim identityVessel 'Jin Nui Zou' |
Victim TypeVessel |
MethodGoing Dark |
Attacker countryIran, China |
On September 5th, 2019 a spoofing incident occurred in the port of Dalian, China. An oil tanker by the name of Jin Nui Zou, owned by the China Shipping Tanker Company Ltd, entered the Port of Dalian oil terminal in Northeast China that day. Dalian is the headquarters of two subsidiaries of COSCO shipping which were sanctioned by the U.S. government for importing Iranian crude oil. AIS tracking of the Jin Nui Zou shows it entered the Port of Dalian on a normal course. As the ship approached the terminal from the southeast, however, the vessel's AIS positions suddenly scatter throughout the port with some showing the vessel traveling at a very high speed. Eventually the vessel's AIS positions settle into a circular pattern centred around a location inside of the oil terminal tank field—on land. PS spoofing impacting shipping has been detected in over 20 Chinese coastal sites during 2019, including the port of Dalian, possibly as a reaction to increased scrutiny of Iranian crude imports by the U.S. Ship traffic appeared in a infamous crop circle as a result of spoofing. A total of 9 oil terminals in two separate terminal area's were affected by the spoofing incident.
