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Abstract
Concentration near Panama City: 25 IUU-linked ship-to-ship (STS) meetings in the past nine months occurred near Panama City, where dense maritime traffic can provide cover for illicit transfers.
Activity Trends: 25 STS meetings and 4 dark activities were detected in or close to Panama’s EEZ (Dec 2024–Sep 2025). Panama-flagged vessels dominated, followed by Venezuela and Liberia, both common “flags of convenience.” One dark event lasted eight days inside a marine protected area.
High-Risk Vessels: Tankers HAI XING, HAI ZHI RUN 7, and PROSPERITY 12, along with fishing vessels LOS ROQUES and TEMPLARIO, repeatedly engaged in high-risk activity tied to IUU fishing. Several of these high risk vessels are flagged for suspected forced labor.
Flags of Convenience: Open registries in Panama and Liberia can be exploited for low fees and weak oversight, allowing fleets to obscure ownership, evade sanctions, and blend illicit operations with legitimate traffic.
Strategic Concerns: The Canal’s vessel density and weak registry transparency enable illicit actors to operate in plain sight. Dark activity in MPAs undermines both enforcement and environmental protection. Dashboard analysis suggests Panama’s EEZ is being used as a logistics hub for high-risk vessels.