Risk & Compliance Methodology

Risk & Compliance Methodology

In this user guide, we explain how our Risk & Compliance solution works, giving you a clear understanding of how we designed it and what data we integrate.

In the Compliance tab, you can access the full set of compliance intelligence and risk events associated with the vessel, enabling a comprehensive 360° risk assessment.

We use a color-coded system to help you quickly understand the level of compliance risk:

The events are grouped into 4 risk categories:

The R&C solution covers the global fleet of IMO vessels. Sanction and Management risks are already available across the full fleet, while Operational risks are currently available for the commodities fleet and will be gradually expanded to include all vessel types.

The Compliance tab shows data for the full history available starting from 1st of January 2022.

To keep our Risk and Compliance (R&C) info accurate and up-to-date, we use four main sources:

Update frequency of R&C data:
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We update this data daily to make sure you have the latest info on sanctions and compliance.

We give you detailed info about whether a vessel is sanctioned or not. We also provide links to the original sources for more info.

Criteria for Status:

We tell you if a vessel is carrying any sanctioned cargo, like oil from Iran or Syria. We cover different types of cargo and provide details on specific grades:

Crude oil/ Condensate

All Iranian and Venezuelan grades as sanctioned ().

Russian grades as potential sanctioned cargo ().

We also account for the EOPL (Eastern Outside Port Limit) grade, a synthetic crude grade created by Kpler to identify sanctioned cargoes received offshore Malaysia.

CPP

All exports from Iran (), Venezuela (), Syria () and Russia () are flagged.

​DPP

All exports from Iran (), Venezuela (), Syria () and Russia () are flagged.

​Chem/Bio

All exports from Iran (), Venezuela () and Russia () carrying Methanol are flagged.

​LNG

All exports from Venezuela () and Russia () are flagged.

NGL

All exports from Iran (), Venezuela (), Syria () and Russia () are flagged.

DRY

All exports of Coal, Iron Ore, Steel, Metals and Cement from Russia are flagged ().

This field also captures cases where the vessel has acquired sanctioned cargo via an STS event to allow for end to end compliance monitoring.

Additionally, to provide more clarity to our customers, we have added the HS codes of the sanctioned cargos.

In order to make decisions based on facts, all estimations or algorithm based forecasts are excluded. Under this field you will find information about delivered and in transit trades.

Criteria for Status:

To support user understanding of the Sanctioned Cargo risk category, the following list provides the standardized cargo names used within the Risk & Compliance solution.

This field captures trades that are restricted by sanctioned programs and provides critical insights into specific trades affected by international sanctions.

We detect exports from Iran, Syria, Russia, and Venezuela and map these trades to the EU, US, UK, and to G7 countries. For each detected trade, we provide details such as the cargo being shipped, the dates of the trade, and links to the official sanctioned programs.

Criteria for Status:

In addition to assessing vessel and cargo sanctions, we also scrutinize the ownership structure to determine if any layer of ownership is subject to sanctions. Our analysis covers these six layers of ownership:

We review each layer against sanction lists to identify any matches. If any layer of ownership is found to be listed in the sanction lists, we flag the vessel accordingly, adding another dimension to our compliance assessment.

Criteria for Status:

We assess whether the vessel's current and past flags are associated with a sanctioned program, providing insights into potential risks.

Criteria for Status:

We provide information about a vessel's Classification Society, P&I Club, and ISM Manager, which helps you understand who are the associated companies linked to a vessel and responsible for its insurance and adherence to safety standards.

Additionally, we have incorporated IACS and IG P&I Club information alongside the names of the Classification Society and P&I Club to further enhance the vessel screening process, providing an additional indication that the vessel meets the international standards and has proper insurance coverage.

However, in cases where this information isn't known, we flag it to highlight potential risks since this information should in principle be easily accessible.

Criteria for Status:

In this section, we delve into the critical aspects of port state control (PSC), where ships are inspected in ports to verify that the condition of the ship and its equipment comply with the requirements of international regulations and that the ship is manned and operated in compliance with these rules. Our data sources rely on the Paris, Tokyo, Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caribbean, Indian, Abuja and United States Cost Guard (USCG) Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), which provide valuable insights into vessel inspections, detentions, and bans.

Inspections

When assessing a vessel’s compliance, it’s essential to consider recent inspections. Users can access details such as:

Detentions

Detentions occur when a vessel fails to meet safety or environmental standards. Key information related to detentions includes:

Bans

Vessel bans are serious consequences that impact a ship’s operations. If a vessel has been subject to bans, users can find the following details:

Criteria for Status

We regularly update this information to maintain accuracy and relevance. By staying informed, you can make informed decisions regarding vessel compliance and mitigate associated risks.

The objective of this feature is to identify and analyze Automatic Identification System (AIS) gaps to detect potential security and compliance issues.

To achieve this, we continuously collect AIS data from our global AIS network for all vessels transmitting on AIS. An AIS gap is detected if there is no AIS signal from a vessel for more than 20 hours since the last received AIS position.

We then evaluate the AIS coverage in the area where the ship was last reported and assess the AIS coverage based on the vessel's projected position during the AIS gap. This helps us determine the nature of the AIS gap.

The High risk AIS gaps table provides detailed information on each event within the selected timeframe, including details such as the the date, location and any detected draught change. These high-risk AIS gaps will be shown as amber risk ().

In this field, we provide information which allow you to monitor and assess ship-to-ship (STS) transfers for potential sanction risks.

To achieve this, we track STS transfer activities using AIS data and other market sources. This continuous monitoring allows us to identify when and where STS transfers occur while ensuring that bunkering events are excluded as well.

For an STS transfer event to be considered high risk, at least one of the two vessels involved must meet one of the following criteria:

The High risk STS transfers table provides detailed information on each event within the selected timeframe, including:

Criteria for Status:

This field provides verified information about ship-to-ship (STS) transfers that occur while a vessel's AIS transponder is turned off. Every Dark STS event is confirmed using satellite imagery.

Such events present significant compliance and operational risks. By identifying and verifying them, you stay ahead of potential regulatory and sanctions violations and obtain crucial insights for your risk management processes.

The Dark STS transfers table provides detailed information on each event within the selected timeframe, including:

Criteria for Status:

In this section, we identify port calls to countries under sanctions and provide detailed event data for thorough analysis.

For a port call to be considered high risk, the port needs to be located in Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Russian occupied Ukrainian territory.

The High risk port calls table provides detailed information on each event within the selected timeframe, including:

Criteria for Status:

This field provides the list of intentional AIS transmission falsification from vessels, also known as AIS spoofing. To detect AIS spoofing we use a structured methodology:

This process ensures accurate detection and reporting of AIS transmission falsification.

The methodology currently covers Tankers.

The AIS spoofing table provides detailed information on each event within the selected timeframe, including:

Criteria for Status: