How electronic warfare is threatening ships and their crews

GPS jamming and spoofing are increasingly threatening commercial shipping, with real incidents like the MSC Antonia grounding in the Red Sea demonstrating the dangers. Electronic warfare in conflict zones such as the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea disrupts ship navigation by either blocking or faking satellite signals. Research interviews with professional mariners reveal crews are poorly prepared: cybersecurity training focuses on phishing rather than navigation system attacks, paper charts and celestial navigation skills have largely disappeared, and clear incident response procedures are absent. As ships grow more connected via Starlink and remote monitoring, attack surfaces expand, making the gap between technical vulnerabilities and crew readiness a critical safety issue.