Every day, maritime traffic in the Baltic Sea experiences jamming and spoofing attacks. The impact is felt across Europe: supply chains are delayed, insurance costs rise, and more critically, maritime safety is significantly compromised.
Against this background, the navigation specialist Anschütz from Kiel has collected data and feedback to validate the performance of its gyrocompasses. The result: Incidents of jamming and spoofing continue to increase in the Baltic region – yet, according to the company, Anschütz gyrocompasses remain reliable and unaffected.
Baltic Sea a hotspot for interference
The Baltic Sea is one of the busiest maritime regions in the world. It handles a significant share of the EU’s trade, and its ports are critical nodes in global supply chains. Like almost everywhere in the world, ships in this region rely heavily on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) such as GPS (Global Positioning System) for navigation and positioning.
Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, however, the Baltic Sea has become a hotspot for GNSS jamming and spoofing incidents. In recent months, thousands of commercial vessels and aircraft have reported navigation disruptions.
What are the risks?
Jamming and spoofing attacks cause ships to receive inaccurate position data or experience sudden position jumps – in some cases even total signal loss. These threats endanger maritime operations and expose crews and vessels to significant risks. While GPS is most commonly affected, other satellite-based GNSS are also impacted.
Jamming leads to the loss of GNSS signals and, consequently, of latitude, longitude, Speed Over Ground (SOG) and Course Over Ground (COG). Spoofing, on the other hand, transmits false GNSS signals, resulting in incorrect position, speed and course information.
These threats undermine navigation through ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems) and also affect other systems such as AIS (Automatic Identification System) and radar – significantly reducing situational awareness on the bridge.
Precise heading data despite attacks
According to the manufacturer, Anschütz gyrocompasses offer robust, GNSS-independent heading solutions that ensure safe navigation even under electronic attack.
The Standard 22 NX operates mechanically and fully autonomously, based on an extremely robust design. It delivers very high accuracy. Even when GNSS signals are compromised, the Standard 22 NX continues to provide precise heading data. According to Anschütz, only the automatic speed error correction may be slightly affected – but only if GNSS is used as the speed source. Even without this correction, heading accuracy remains within commercially acceptable limits, according to user feedback. By using a non-GNSS-based speed log and applying good seamanship (e.g., manual adjustment of latitude), heading accuracy becomes fully independent of GNSS, according to the manufacturer.
The maintenance-free Standard 30 NX is also a reliable option. Larger spoofing anomalies are automatically filtered, trigger alarms, and do not immediately impact heading information. Smaller position anomalies caused by spoofing also do not have an immediate effect, although they may be harder to detect.
The Anschütz Heading Management System offers the following unique features to restore full accuracy even during interference:
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Manual input of speed and latitude during disruptions, making the system completely independent of external signals.
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Separate speed and latitude input for each compass, allowing different GNSS sources to be used – reducing the risk, as not all GNSS will likely be disrupted simultaneously.
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Combination of different gyrocompass types for cross-verification and anomaly detection through integrated heading monitoring.
“Using the speed of a speed log is one way to achieve complete independence from spoofing and jamming attacks. More and more customers are also opting for dual-compass systems combining the Standard 30 MF and Standard 22 NX to ensure technological redundancy,” says Volker Wenzel, Sales Manager at Anschütz for Nordics & Baltics. “Their robust design and advanced features make Anschütz gyrocompasses and heading management systems the ideal solution for the current threat environment in the Baltic Sea – and beyond.”
