SynMax Intelligence - Maritime

Previous analysis:

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China's Shuiqiao-class LPU barges on sea trials near Wanshan: 135 (6-leg) & 185 (8-leg) departed Guangzhou shipyard yesterday.

The platforms create temporary docks where no port infrastructure exists- key for supply ops in a Taiwan invasion scenario.

4-leg variant remains docked.

The KIWALA (9332810), an 18-year-old oil tanker, was detained by the Estonian Navy for lacking a valid flag state and insurance and for appearing on sanctions lists.

Inspectors found 40 deficiencies.

In the last three years, the KIWALA had changed her name, flag, and ownership multiple times.

On 04 Feb 25, Theia detected Iran's second MAKRAN-Class vessel at ISOICO near Bandar Abbas. The 183m vessel, alongside a similar tanker, hints at ongoing naval projects. Detected ready for float-out on February 10th, Theia continued monitoring its progress, noting activity at ISOICO into April.

UPDATE: MDA platform Theia observed China’s 8-legged barge trials progress near Donghai Island, China. On Mar 21, Ro-Ro ferry CHANG LE GONG ZHU likely docked with a barge. Three more units are under construction, with builds taking ~5 months each.
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On March 17, 2025, Theia, SynMax's AI-powered maritime domain awareness platform, detected 78,941 vessels across 25M+ km² of satellite imagery.

Fusing EO, AIS, SAR, and more, Theia tracks vessels across oceans, exposing AIS dark, spoofing vessels and illicit STS transfers.

On the 4th of March, 2025, crude oil tanker BIG MAG (IMO 9263215) spoofed her location near Malaysia. Despite her ongoing paint job, on the 8th of March, she was detected by MDA platform Theia 30km from her false location, conducting a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer with an AIS-dark tanker.

Three more barges, one of each type, were identified under construction at Guangzhou Shipyard. They have since been launched.

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High res RADAR ftw!

All Sentinel 2 satellite image acquisitions over China Taiwan invasion landing jackup barges in Zhanjiang had clouded skies.

Umbra Space image interpreted by @synmax-maritime.bsky.social experts👇.

They come in 3 sizes, easier to mount than IKEA furniture.

In Dec 24, SynMax's MDA platform, Theia, tracked 3 Chinese ‘jack-up’ barges leaving Guangzhou Shipyard, China, before they underwent sea trials near the Wanshan Archipelago.

In Feb 25, the barges were deployed near Zhanjiang, China, using extendable Bailey bridges to form an artificial dock.