Data sources
ArcNautical does not publish its own sanctions designations or detention records. It screens against, and cites, the authoritative public sources below — each lookup carries the source name and the date it was read.
| Source | Used for | Refresh |
|---|---|---|
| OFAC SDN List U.S. Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control | Sanctions screening | Daily · search |
| EU Consolidated Financial Sanctions | Sanctions screening | Daily · map |
| UN Security Council Consolidated List | Sanctions screening | Daily · list |
| UK HMT / OFSI Consolidated List | Sanctions screening | Daily |
| OpenSanctions | Consolidated + vessel datasets | Daily · site |
| GLEIF Global LEI Index | Ownership chain & beneficial owner | 24h cache · search |
| Paris MoU | Flag-state PSC performance (White/Grey/Black) | Annual list, WGB 2021–2023 · site |
| Tokyo MoU | Flag-state PSC performance | Annual list, 2023 · site |
| Equasis | PSC inspection & detention history | Per lookup · site |
| AIS | Position & port-call history | Continuous |
Paris and Tokyo MoU White/Grey/Black placements were last reconciled against the published annual lists on 2026-05-30.
The sanctions verdict — RED / AMBER / GREEN
The headline status answers one question: does this hull match a current sanctions listing?
Match confidence is ranked exact IMO → exact MMSI → name + flag → fuzzy name. Only an exact identifier (or otherwise high-confidence) match produces RED; everything weaker is AMBER and flagged for human review.
Ownership opacity — 0 to 100
Opacity measures how hard it is to see who actually controls a vessel. 0 is fully transparent; 100 is opaque. The score is driven by how far the corporate chain resolves in the GLEIF LEI index, whether the registered owner sits in a shell-company jurisdiction, and whether a beneficial owner is disclosed.
Shell-company jurisdictions weighted toward opacity
MH · PA · LR · VG · KY · BM · GI · IM · JE · GG · BS · SC · MU · CW · AG · WS · VU · KM · TO
The vetting grade — A to E
The vetting grade is a single weighted composite (0–100, where lower is better) mapped to a letter. It blends five independent risk signals:
- A confirmed sanctions match floors the grade to E, regardless of the underlying feature scores. A sanctioned hull is never graded "moderate".
- When Port-State-Control data is unavailable, the detention weight is redistributed to the remaining signals — we do not invent a detention score to fill the gap.
- Only signals backed by real data contribute to the average (active-signal weighting). A missing signal is excluded, not silently scored zero.
Freshness
Sanctions and inspection data change constantly. Every baked figure on a vessel, flag, or entity page carries the snapshot date it was read. For a current answer, the free /check tool re-screens the vessel against the live lists at the moment you query it.
Limitations & responsible use
- ArcNautical is a decision-support tool, not legal advice, and not a substitute for OFAC's own SDN search or a licensed compliance / KYC programme.
- An AMBER / "potential" match is not a confirmation. Verify the underlying identity before taking or refusing any action.
- Sanctions lists change daily; PSC and ownership data change frequently. Always confirm against the primary source on the date of your decision.
- When an upstream source is temporarily unreachable, ArcNautical shows what it has plus the as-of date — a missing signal is disclosed, never fabricated.