S. 1103 — Vessel Tracking for Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2025

This section establishes a pilot program at U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) National Targeting Center—not later than 18 months after enactment—to assess the feasibility of using big data analytics to identify vessels that disable or manipulate their Automatic Identification System (AIS) as an indicator of evading U.S. sanctions or export controls. The program must provide actionable intelligence to DHS operational components (including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Coast Guard), other federal law enforcement agencies, and select foreign partners; consider data elements such as cargo type, vessel destination and ownership, nearby vessels during AIS issues, and AIS malfunction duration and frequency; incorporate multiple data models as needed; and coordinate with the Departments of Commerce and others including the Director of National Intelligence. The pilot terminates 4 years after enactment, after which the Secretary of Homeland Security must submit a report to Congress—also 4 years after enactment, in consultation with Commerce, Treasury, and National Intelligence—assessing the program's effectiveness, detailing interdiction outcomes and destinations of non-interdicted high-risk vessels, and recommending future use of such analytics. No additional funds are authorized, and the section does not permit new information collection beyond existing law.