Unidentified radar target inside Union Waters Deeper than 800m

The case in brief

Assessed and closed: activity and rule cannot be established on any evidence available to us, so no amount of work on the vessel could settle this case.

Case

#80654

Observation

Satellite radar detection, no AIS

Closed area

Union Waters Deeper than 800m (EU 2016/2336)

What is prohibited there

trawling prohibited

When

2026-09-26 11:45 UTC → 2026-10-03 11:46 UTC

Position

56.1800°, -10.0800°

Vessel

REALT ARA

MMSI

250269000

Flag

IE

How this case was judged

Every CAUGHT case is assessed on three independent questions, and the weakest of the three decides. A case reads CAUGHT only when all three are established and a person has reviewed it.

• Activity weak

  Was it fishing, here, and then?

  • Radar detection attributed to this vessel by reachability. It places a hull at this position, but radar cannot show fishing behaviour, so activity cannot be established from this detection alone.
  • What would settle it: a concurrent AIS track through the same window showing a working pattern, or independent corroboration of the same vessel in the same closure.

• Vessel unknown

  What gear does this boat actually use?

  • No hand-verified gear record for this vessel. GFW's inferred label is a behavioural guess and is documented to mislabel inshore creel boats as trawlers, so it cannot carry a case.

• Rule unknown

  What was prohibited there, then, for that gear?

  • Rule reviewed and NOT resolved: A breach cannot be established from position and behaviour alone. Three independent reasons, any one of which is sufficient — see `analysis` below.

Not established: vessel; rule. A case is only as strong as its weakest factor, so this one cannot read CAUGHT until that is settled.

Check it yourself

Nothing here asks to be taken on trust. The full report sets out every source, every measurement and everything we could not establish.

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