What Is GPS Jamming and Why Are We Seeing So Much of It? in International Shipping News 20/06/2026 At a Glance GPS jamming is deliberate interference with the positioning signals that vessels, aircraft, and other GPS-dependent systems rely on to navigate, with the affected area either denied (signal suppressed entirely) or injected (false position signals broadcast). Nearly 978,000 GPS jamming events were recorded globally in Q1 2026, with 98% concentrated in the Middle East Gulf, accelerating sharply in the first two weeks of the Iran conflict. More than 1,100 vessels were directly affected by GPS jamming in the Middle East Gulf during the first quarter, with operational positioning compromised across the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Oman. GPS jamming concentrates in military zones, contested waterways, and active conflict theaters, with the Strait of Hormuz, the Baltic Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean among the most affected regions globally. GPS jamming undermines the cooperative signals that AIS-based maritime monitoring relies on, making vessel positioning, port operations, and incident detection harder to verify in real time. Maritime AI™ and Multi-Source Intelligence are increasingly being used to maintain operational visibility when GPS and AIS signals can no longer be trusted independently. What Is GPS Jamming? GPS jamming is the deliberate interference with GPS signals that disrupts the ability of receivers to determine accurate location. It operates in two primary modes. The first is signal denial, where jamming equipment overwhelms the GPS signal with radio frequency interference, preventing a receiver from establishing a positioning fix at all. The second is signal injection, where false positioning data is broadcast in the affected area, causing vessels to report incorrect locations. For maritime operations, both modes have direct operational consequences. A ship that cannot establish positioning cannot navigate safely. A ship