Specialist maritime intelligence and predictive analytics company Windward is to help a European Union clampdown on illicit maritime drug smuggling.
The Tel Aviv-based company has been chosen by the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre-Narcotics (MAOCN), a law enforcement agency involving seven EU member states, to identify ships involved in drugs smuggling.
Its work will focus on the Mediterranean and Atlantic sea areas.
The appointment comes as a decrease in air traffic during the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the drugs trade shifting from air to sea.
In a recent example reported by TradeWinds, Italian police discovered 217 kg of drugs divided into blocks and hidden in a sealed storage room on the 34,800-dwt bulker Adrienne (built 2020) at Ancona.
Windward chief executive Ami Daniel said: “Europe has over 65,000 kilometres of coastline, a huge door for potential smugglers, sanction breakers, and illegal traders to enter.”
He said Windwards artificial intelligence based predictive analytics would give the EU crime agency a “clear view of global maritime trade and obtain real-time intelligence into which vessels are deemed safe and which are likely to be involved in illegal activities”.
MAOCN managing director Michael O’Sullivan said: “Windward’s maritime predictive intelligence solution is powerful, highly accurate, and has become an integral component in our fight against drug smuggling throughout Europe.”
Windward also provides specialist maritime risk data to the marine insurance industry and sanctions intelligence to the shipping industry.
