Where on the globe would you best be able to sail a very large ship without being detected?

I’m working on a indie video game that’s set on a large ship and I’m looking to have it be a very hidden and elusive boat. (Speaking vaguely to avoid spoilers)

Where could it possibly be sailing through to avoid detection? Like no radars, land signals, etc…

There are slight sci fi elements that could explain it avoiding detection but want to make the location as believable as possible.

I’m not very familiar with oceans and the technology behind detecting vessels. Would love to be pointed in the right direction if anyone is knowledgeable.

Edit: Oh damn, this got a much bigger response than I expected. Thanks so much for all the awesome suggestions!

Edit2: Wow you guys have fantastic ideas! Just to clarify this is a real game project and not a joke or a cover for gold smugglers 😂

I am leaving hits and teases in my replies. Partially to have fun and build the world a little but also maybe get a bit of a community game going with a bread trail to follow. 😉🤫

DudeDudenson,

HL3 confirmed

RecursiveParadox,
@RecursiveParadox@lemmy.world avatar

Part of it would depend on whether or not it has, as required of all self propelled ships above a low threshold GRT, an AIS transceiver. If it’s got one, and it’s on, I can find the ship in seconds (access to multiple large terrestrial and satellite AIS systems at work).

But I guess if they never intend to go anywhere near Port State Control, they could just turn their AIS off. People do it all the time to violate sanctions, avoid pirates, etc.

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Ok that’s a lot of info I wasn’t aware of. Thanks!!

So this ship doesn’t want to go to port so to remain as hidden as possible. I’m imagining smaller vessels would deliver supplies to the ship along its route. So any laws won’t be really an issue if no countries know about the ship.

Toes,

The classic bermuda triangle.

spiderman,

What are you trying to smuggle bruh?

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Just trying to have a fun time without interruptions. 🍾🎊

sharkfucker420,
@sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml avatar

Most of it but point nemo is probably idealic for a video game setting

Moebius,

Point Nemo

gandalf_der_12te,

underwater?

HootinNHollerin,
@HootinNHollerin@sh.itjust.works avatar

Russian oligarchs super yacht captains wanna know

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

😂 but the other guy was closer

treadful,
@treadful@lemmy.zip avatar

Thought this was a play on that “sovereign AI ship” article from earlier.

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Do you have a link to that?

Been working on this idea for a while now and am starting to make the assets in blender.

treadful,
@treadful@lemmy.zip avatar

The first AI nation? A ship with 10,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs worth $500 million could become the first ever sovereign territory that relies entirely on artificial intelligence for its future

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Oh damn!!

Not quite what I’m thinking with my game but that certainly gives me some inspiration.

Thanks!

treadful,
@treadful@lemmy.zip avatar

Do keep us updated!

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Oh certainly! Really appreciate all the help!

I might have a small post about the game on mastodon but I don’t want to give away too much here 😏🤫

fritata_fritato,

Anywhere on this map that isn’t full of boats. South Indian Ocean woukd be my guess: https://lemmy.nz/pictrs/image/1437754f-8f6c-4584-92e2-f1f456c4b1ca.jpeg

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Oh wow! Didn’t know that existed. Thanks for sharing.

South Indian Ocean has been mentioned a few times now. 🤔

bitsplease,

Might also want to prioritize areas of low military significance - even if there are no commercial ships, you don’t want areas where spy satellites are likely to be looking around for unknown vessels

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Good point! Will definitely have to look those up.

lntl,
@lntl@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Most of the ocean you won’t be detected in. There’s just nobody looking for anyone out there. So stay away from eezs and littoral zones and you ll be alone in no time.

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Thanks! Haven’t heard of those. I’ll look em up!

ChefTyler1980,

Literally anywhere outside the shipping lanes in the Pacific would do it. Even with satellite coverage, a large ship is still a tiny dot.

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Fair enough. The ocean is fucking huge.

ChefTyler1980,

Absolutely bonkers how large it is.

SgtAStrawberry,

Yep. There is even a part of the Pacific that is on the opposite side of another part of the Pacific. The Pacific is also home to Point Nemo with is the place on the ocean farthest away from land.

intensely_human,

They use silver nitrate injection to control hurricanes then travel in their eye

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

Travelling in a hurricane’s eye is pretty damn awesome.

Realistically wouldn’t a 24/7 twister in the ocean not draw a lot of attention? Or do those exist?

intensely_human,

They only need them when they need to travel.

The trouble then becomes crossing the equator since (a) there’s probably a lot more satellite coverage at the equator and (b) hurricanes don’t cross the equator

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

That’s true. Could be some kind of emergency system or a last minute resort when they are on the verge of getting caught.

morphballganon,

I suspect the motive of the protagonist will affect the answer to your question. What are they doing out there? If the goal is to catch fish, for example, maybe don’t go somewhere with no fish, right?

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

I’m really trying to be reserved with the details as much as possible right now but I do want to try to fill in a few blanks.

You’re quite close with the current working opening where the protagonist is indeed out fishing.

Hence why I was holding back a bit from setting it in the arctic.

cynar,

It depends what you are hiding from. If you want to avoid notice from random encounters, you would want to head out to sea. So long as you’re over the horizon from any shipping lanes, you’re as close to invisible as you can get.

If your goal is to evade an active military search, you want clutter, and a lot of it. Military radar can sweep vast areas quickly. Satellites can spot ships at sea, so long as the sky is clear enough. Islands and coastline can mess with these however. Get into an out of the way bay, and throw up camo netting, and your ship is now just another bit of rock to the satellites, and it’s part of the noise to radar. The cost of this cover is that it is also attractive to random tourist boats, or fishing boats.

BroBot9000,
@BroBot9000@lemmy.world avatar

These are some very good questions!

The camo netting wouldn’t work on a ship this size.

So let’s say the ship isn’t being searched for but is actively trying not to be spotted on accident or by anyone.

The protagonist won’t have any nearby land to get to.

modeler,

The camo netting wouldn’t work on a ship this size.

I think it probably could: youtu.be/9DSwXZ1esBQ?si=5SRwisQQo4pgRBh3

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