Registered non-profit lighting up the maritime gray zone. Transparency & monitoring in the Indo-Pacific & beyond. Founder/Director: @gordianknotray
United States
Joined December 2025
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SeaLight retweeted
Just recently, we reported the passage of the Liaoning Carrier Strike Group of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) through the Basilan Strait, near Zamboanga City, as it passed through the southern part of the country.
The full picture was unveiled, with both the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard actively monitoring the carrier strike group, where the former deployed the BRP Diego Silang (FFG7) frigate first; it was then accompanied by BRP Emilio Jacinto under the Western Mindanao Naval Command, then the BRP Sarangani of the Philippine Coast Guard when it passed near Sarangani province, and then the BRP Artemio Ricarte when it passed into the jurisdiction of the Eastern Mindanao Naval Command.
While the entire passage can be dismissed as basically an innocent passage under international law, plus the area near Basilan Strait being a valid maritime route under the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Law or RA 12065, the appearance of the Liaoning Carrier Strike Group is still a cause of concern worth monitoring at that time, given the increased tensions between the Philippines and China as of late.
#PDA #PitzDefAnalysis #PhilippineNavy #PhilippineCoastGuard #PLAN #PeoplesLiberationArmyNavy #BRPDiegoSilang #BRPArtemioRicarte #BRPEmilioJacinto #BRPSarangani
Image (c) @Indowatchosint
SeaLight retweeted
Meh. Defense ministers and defense attaches are NOT "counterparts". I say this as a former defense attache myself: being received by an undersecretary is perfectly honorable. If they wanted Sec Teodoro to personally receive him they should have sent their defense minister.
SeaLight retweeted
Point of clarification, the authority to boost questionable ships I believe some combination of the @TAIWANoac, Taiwan Coast Guard, and the Legislative Yuan. This should be clarified and resolved.
SeaLight retweeted
NEPTUNE is one of several "zombie vessels" that regularly loiter outside critical Taiwanese airbases and LNG facilities in the south of Taiwan. This is all within Taiwan's Prohibited Waters. Neptune was also found loitering over Taiwan's submarine cables, most recently Oct 1, 2026. This was one of the vessels that @taiwanplusnews asked us about earlier this year in their investigation. The ship is registered under SHUN LI SHIPPING CO. LTD in London on Dec 22, 2017. It was then dissolved in May 28, 2019. NEPTUNE does have multiple evolving identities. We concur that the ship does encounter PRC or Taiwan originated vessels, but does not call on a single port outside Taiwan. As a consequence, given what we know of Taiwan's new policy position toward high-risk vessels, we also find it unusual. It is currently berthed near Taiwanese military vessels.
SeaLight retweeted
@ingeniSPACE: We would value your insights on this ship!
1/ SUSPICIOUS VESSEL IN KEELUNG HARBOR, 🇹🇼#TAIWAN.
SeaLight has been tracking the cargo ship NEPTUNE for months based on its weird behavior: a flag-switching cargo ship that seldom visits ports but frequently encounters other suspicious ships off the coast.
It is now tied up in 🇹🇼Keelung Harbor, where its port paperwork says it just came from 🇭🇰#HongKong, even though its own Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder's tracking signal says it was never there.
Tracking from @StarboardIntel shows NEPTUNE has spent the past 14 months just loitering around Taiwan's coasts: drifting offshore for weeks at a time, occasionally encountering other vessels & not calling at a single port outside Taiwan.
The closest it came to Hong Kong in that time was about 490 km. In fact, its entire AIS history shows zero visits to Hong Kong.
It currently flies the flag of Comoros, a registry the European Maritime Safety Agency rates "very high risk." It has already switched flags from Tanzania, not long after Taiwan itself announced it was scrutinizing that country's registered ships.
So what has this ship actually been doing? [🧵1/5]
(Attached: Current location of the NEPTUNE in Keelung Harbor from @StarboardIntel, plus last known photo of the same ship from July 2022, when it was NEPTUNE1)
SeaLight retweeted
FYI - Local coverage of Neptune. The real question is why do they allow these vessels that are 20+ years old to hang out in Taiwan waters. If Sri Lanka can boot out questionable ships, why can't Taiwan? finance.ettoday.net/news/326…
SeaLight retweeted
1/ SUSPICIOUS VESSEL IN KEELUNG HARBOR, 🇹🇼#TAIWAN.
SeaLight has been tracking the cargo ship NEPTUNE for months based on its weird behavior: a flag-switching cargo ship that seldom visits ports but frequently encounters other suspicious ships off the coast.
It is now tied up in 🇹🇼Keelung Harbor, where its port paperwork says it just came from 🇭🇰#HongKong, even though its own Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder's tracking signal says it was never there.
Tracking from @StarboardIntel shows NEPTUNE has spent the past 14 months just loitering around Taiwan's coasts: drifting offshore for weeks at a time, occasionally encountering other vessels & not calling at a single port outside Taiwan.
The closest it came to Hong Kong in that time was about 490 km. In fact, its entire AIS history shows zero visits to Hong Kong.
It currently flies the flag of Comoros, a registry the European Maritime Safety Agency rates "very high risk." It has already switched flags from Tanzania, not long after Taiwan itself announced it was scrutinizing that country's registered ships.
So what has this ship actually been doing? [🧵1/5]
(Attached: Current location of the NEPTUNE in Keelung Harbor from @StarboardIntel, plus last known photo of the same ship from July 2022, when it was NEPTUNE1)
SeaLight retweeted
Meanwhile here in the real world, we actually hate history's bloodiest totalitarian dictator because we grieve the 50M+ Chinese citizens whose deaths he caused more than you do.
But I get it ... that's what being part of a brainwashed personality cult does to you.
Let's be honest, the West hates Mao because he liberated Chinese people, united the country, and made it impossible to be a Western puppet.
Moreover, he inspired more Asian, African, and Latin American people's anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements. The West slanders any leader who refuses to obey them.
Mao was a great strategist, revolutionist, thinker, writer and leader. Long live the great unity of the people of the world!💪
SeaLight retweeted
South China Sea tensions are turning Chinese-language education into a security issue in the Philippines, straining civilian ties and exposing schools’ dependence on foreign teaching support, analysts told Radio Free Asia.
bit.ly/4iuoZJg
SeaLight retweeted
@RadioFreeAsia: In a report on the SeaLight webpage, the maritime transparency project’s executive director Ray Powell characterized the exodus as an organized recall by Beijing that uses “Filipinos of Chinese heritage” as “a card to be played.” 🃏🇨🇳🇵🇭
South China Sea tensions are turning Chinese-language education into a security issue in the Philippines, straining civilian ties and exposing schools’ dependence on foreign teaching support, analysts told Radio Free Asia.
bit.ly/4iuoZJg
SeaLight retweeted
Liaoning’s movements likely simulated a movement to break through the first island chain toward the Pacific. Liaoning also may have practiced isolating the Philippines or Taiwan during a conflict. (Institute for the Study of War: understandingwar.org/researc…)
SeaLight retweeted
The #PLA is sending groups of vessels, including the #Liaoning carrier strike group, to exercise east of the #1stIslandChain. We’re staying vigilant about their activities. The simultaneous threat to #Taiwan, #Japan & the #Philippines is obvious.
SeaLight retweeted
Wait, you mean there's NOT going to be a #SouthChinaSea Code of Conduct? But golly, I thought everyone totally wanted one this time ...
If only someone could have predicted this.
“Laos is going to shatter the Philippine dream of using the chair to pass the Code of Conduct. It’s as simple as that.” buff.ly/7iaIBHl
Why We Should Care About🇨🇳#China's Version of the Law of the Sea?
Last November 2025, Isaac Kardon (@IBKardon), Senior Fellow for China Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of "China’s Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order," joined SeaLight Executive Director @GordianKnotRay and the @IndoPacPodcast to discuss how China uses domestic law, coast guard operations, and strategic ambiguity to reshape international maritime norms - especially in the South and East China Seas and the Yellow Sea
In this clip, Isaac explains the global ocean is a single interconnected system. The South China Sea accounts for roughly a third of global trade, carrying critical technology supply chains through its waters. China's militarization of the South China Sea poses a real long-term challenge; if countries follow China's path in rewriting the rules of the sea, it will lead to a less orderly and prosperous global system.
SeaLight retweeted
Readers may also be interested in this podcast which discusses thestrategic importance of the Iron Triangle ▶️ #podcast #SouthChinaSea
Apple
apple.co/4za2VKJ
Spotify
open.spotify.com/episode/4QZ…
SoundCloud
on.soundcloud.com/bD0n9JzcGx…
SeaLight retweeted
Readers may also be interested in this podcast interview with Ray Powell Director of Sealight on China's Grey-Zone strategy in the Western Pacific ▶️
Apple
apple.co/4za2VKJ
Spotify
open.spotify.com/episode/4QZ…
SoundCloud
on.soundcloud.com/bD0n9JzcGx…
SeaLight retweeted
I discuss these questions with Ray Powell, Director of SeaLight at Stanford University, California, on Perspectives with Neilo.
#podcast
🎧 Apple
apple.co/4za2VKJ
🎙️Spotify
open.spotify.com/episode/4QZ…
▶️SoundCloud
on.soundcloud.com/bD0n9JzcGx…
SeaLight retweeted
How does China expand its influence and pressure its neighbours without triggering open war?
From the South China Sea to Taiwan and the Philippines, Beijing is using grey-zone tactics to advance its strategic objectives.
Where does this lead? 🧵
SeaLight retweeted
🚨 Dark-fleet tanker hiding in the 🇲🇻#Maldives 🚨
A false-flagged, 🇺🇸U.S.-sanctioned LPG tanker has been anchored inside Maldives' territorial waters for more than 3 weeks.
The ship is BAO YU, and ship-tracking data shows it loitering inside the North Male Atoll, just 13km WNW of the Maldivian capital of Male since October 3.
Before that the ship had loitered for a month inside the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. Its reported draught never changed during the voyage, so what it is carrying (if anything) is unknown.
In August 2024, @USTreasury blocked the ship (then named PARVATI) & sanctioned its Hong Kong owner, Kai Heng Long Global Energy, for shipping 🇮🇷Iranian LPG on behalf of the Hezbollah-controlled Talaqi Group.
For 37 years this Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) sailed under 6 legitimate flags, but since U.S. sanctions in 2024 it has claimed 6 more, and the 🇺🇳@IMOHQ's database marks 5 of them as FALSE.
Details: BAO YU's Automatic Identification System (AIS) broadcast data from @StarboardIntel 👇
Location: 4.2520N, 73.4174E
Flag: Nicaragua
Type: Tanker
MMSI: 350642000
IMO: 8519966
Call sign: H7PZ2
AIS class: A
Dimensions: 220m long, 38m wide
Owner: KAI HENG LONG GLOBAL ENERGY
Operator: KAI HENG LONG GLOBAL ENERGY
@UANI @supbrow @TankerTrackers @Chellaney @USinMaldives
