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You need to send an analyst there with binoculars, a box of cigars and $15k in cash to get realtime trustworthy data
by baq 7mo ago
You need to send an analyst there with binoculars, a box of cigars and $15k in cash to get realtime trustworthy data
- jojobas 7mo agoThe strait is wider than horizon distance from reasonable heights. Also that's how you don't hear back from the analyst in many different ways.
- golem14 7mo agoDo these ships not use transponders? E.g., in the US you can use a SDR dongle and a RPI to read local updates. The straight isn't very wide. Seems cheaper than the cigars and cash.
- dewey 7mo agoTransponders get turned off all the time, especially if you don't want to be targeted.
- golem14 7mo agoAre they though, in the straight ? I'm not sure it's such a great move, TBH: Given that the baddies clearly can locate ships and see that there's no transponder, and come to the conclusion they need. "Hmm, it turned off transponders and is now moving toward the straight. It's a tanker, and not one of ours, or Russia's or China's. Let's bomb it!" Also, pragmatically, you could look at the transponders suddenly not showing up anymore as a sign of attempt of passage, especially if they show up later on the other side. But yes, that would no longer be very realtime.
- zorked 7mo agoThe fleet serving Iran and Russia does not use transponders. It's a large fleet. Ships without transponders are just a fact of life in shipping.
- golem14 7mo agoSure, but for the purpose of this discussion, those ships don't matter. What matters is what the ships NOT belonging to Iran's friends do.
- baq 7mo agoTechnically all ships crossing the strait matter as their cargos end up being bought, sanctioned or not, Iran-friendly or not; they wouldn't have crossed otherwise. If we're talking about avoiding a global recession and worst case famine in some parts of the world, the oil and gas must start moving regardless of who is the shipowner.
- dewey 7mo agoTransponders are a voluntary system, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_fleet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_fleet
- numpad0 7mo agoor just a cubesat on a polar orbit with a Nikon Z9 inside