Following a series of drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea and the Middle East, merchant shipping companies are racing to strengthen their fleets' anti-drone defense capabilities.

Anti-drone specialists such as Marss, Drone Defence, and D-fend Solutions say inquiries from shipowners have surged, with particularly strong interest from companies handling oil and gas cargoes and operating near offshore energy infrastructure. As parties to conflicts seek to disrupt critical commodity supply chains, merchant ships in the Persian Gulf and Black Sea are increasingly becoming targets, while shipowners willing to operate in dangerous waters are securing record freight rates for their vessels.

Jeffrey Starr, Chief Marketing Officer of D-fend Solutions, said the company, founded by Israeli cyber experts and focused on taking over enemy drone control and landing them safely, has seen "huge demand" from the shipping industry. "We are finding that shipowners, charterers, and navies are facing asymmetric threats, leading to a significant increase in inquiries about our technology," he said. "This drone threat is no longer limited to high-intensity war zones."

Richard Gill, CEO of competitor Drone Defence, said inquiries from tankers and LNG carriers have increased. He said that if shipowners can protect their vessels, "they can take more dangerous routes."

John Stawpert, Maritime Director at the International Chamber of Shipping, said the drone threat to shipping has been growing in recent years, "both surface and aerial assets, particularly in active conflict zones such as the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Black Sea." According to International Maritime Organization data, more than 20 seafarers have died in drone and missile attacks in the Persian Gulf since late February, and about 30 people have died in the Black Sea this year. Offshore energy infrastructure, including pipelines, cables, and wind farms, has also become a target. European security officials have reported drone surveillance and, in some cases, covert attacks, with NATO countries increasingly concerned about Russian interference in European waters.

According to several anti-drone specialists, until recently, demand for maritime anti-drone technology came mainly from superyacht owners seeking protection from paparazzi. Rob Balloch, Chief Growth Officer at Marss, said: "Superyachts were one of the initial areas where this started... a large number of top-tier yachts are protected by the Nidar system." The company is now seeing a "significant jump" in demand from vessels serving the offshore oil and gas industry, because "the hardware and software to integrate this technology have reached a price point where downtime losses from such threats justify the investment." The Nidar system uses onboard surveillance technologies such as radar and cameras to detect incoming threats. More advanced systems can incorporate kinetic responses depending on the laws of the region where the vessel operates. Drones can also be blocked by jamming GPS signals or disrupting their control frequencies.

Gill said a radar system equipped with cameras and jamming systems costs about $500,000 for a tanker. Vessels unable to afford such technology are resorting to more primitive anti-drone defenses, such as nets and suspended water tanks, to entangle drones or detonate them before they reach critical parts of the ship.

A key challenge for anti-drone companies is developing systems that can accurately target drones in rough sea conditions and resist corrosive saltwater. Starr said D-fend Solutions' technology was used to protect U.S. ports during this year's soccer World Cup, and the company has created a "ruggedized and durable version" of its system for maritime use, which has been a "huge growth driver." But keeping up with evolving threats is an ongoing struggle. Balloch said: "It's a never-ending cycle. Just when you think you've deployed the best system ever, things change again. Things are changing so fast."