The fusion of AIS data and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery helps monitor ‘dark’ ships that may be engaging in illegal activity

The timing could hardly have been worse for anyone trying to monitor ship congestion at Chinese ports, a topic of critical importance to understanding today’s global economy.

One manifestation of this year’s supply chain chaos has been the record number of ships anchored outside the world’s busiest ports, a function of COVID-related factors leading to increased wait times to load and offload cargoes.