But Touros said that when a ship is close to shore, the information collected in space is not as good as what can be gathered on the ground. Not all of the data is gone: Satellites can still be used to capture signals from ships.

Publicly available AIS platforms are also operating normally, it added.

VesselsValue said in a statement that it had no comment on the new laws or the reasoning behind the reduction in data, only that there had been a decline in reported signals from a third-party source.Ĭhina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement to CNN Business that AIS stations along Chinese coastlines that are legally constructed in accordance with international treaties “have not been shut down” and “are operating normally.” The only systems allowed to remain needed to be installed by “qualified parties.” That's terrible news for some of its biggest tech companiesĬook said she had heard reports in early November that stated that some AIS transponders were removed from stations based along Chinese coastlines at the start of the month, at the instruction of national security authorities. Wu Hong/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockĬhina is cracking down on data privacy. “Whenever you have a new law, we have a time period where everyone needs to check out if things are okay,” Touros said.Ī logo of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is seen on Didi Chuxing's building in Beijing, China, on July 3. But Chinese data providers might be withholding information as a precaution, according to Anastassis Touros, AIS network team leader at Marine Traffic, a major ship-tracking information provider. It requires companies that process data to receive approval from the Chinese government before they can let personal information leave Chinese soil - a rule that reflects the fear in Beijing that such data could end up in the hands of foreign governments. The State Council Information Office, which acts as a press office for the country’s cabinet, did not respond to a request for comment about why shipping providers were losing access to data.īut analysts think they may have found the culprit: China’s Personal Information Protection Law, which took effect November 1. New data law could worsen supply chain chaos Shipping data companies say they've lost information about ships in Chinese waters in recent weeks. “We are currently seeing an industry wide reduction in terrestrial AIS signals in China,” said Charlotte Cook, head trade analyst at VesselsValue.Ī cargo ship seen at Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai last October. In the past three weeks, the number of vessels sending signals from the country has plunged by nearly 90%, according to data from the global shipping data provider VesselsValue. If a ship is out of range of those stations, the information can be exchanged via satellite.īut that’s not happening in the world’s second-largest economy, a critical player in global trade.

This system allows ships to send information - such as position, speed, course and name - to stations that are based along coastlines using high-frequency radio. Usually, shipping data companies are able to track ships worldwide because they are fitted with an Automatic Identification System, or AIS, transceiver. China’s growing isolation from the rest of the world - along with a deepening mistrust of foreign influence - may be to blame.Īnalysts say they started noticing the drop-off in shipping traffic toward the end of October, as China prepared to enact legislation governing data privacy. Ships in Chinese waters are disappearing from industry tracking systems, creating yet another headache for the global supply chain.

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