Policy & Regulation
FBI, Coast Guard boarded two hacked US-bound oil tankers
Cybersecurity teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and FBI boarded two U.S.-bound oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico last month after hackers reportedly compromised at least one vessel's navigation, propulsion, and cargo systems.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI boarded two U.S.-bound oil tankers between August 21 and August 24 after indications that both vessels’ networks had been compromised, according to a joint statement shared with TechCrunch. The agencies said they boarded the vessels in the Gulf of Mexico to “ensure integrity of the vessel’s operational and information technology systems” following those indications. The Coast Guard released photos of its staff and FBI agents climbing aboard one of the ships, and the statement said the captain, crew, and the vessel owner’s on-shore staff cooperated with the agencies. A Coast Guard spokesperson declined to name the vessels involved.
CBS News confirmed that one of the tankers is the VL Prosperity, a 333-meter oil tanker that can hold more than 2 million barrels of oil. Citing Iranian media, CBS reported that hackers compromised the ship on August 7 while it was traveling from Egypt to the United States, and interfered with its speed and fuel systems; the tanker also lost communications for more than a day, per CBS. It’s unclear who is behind the attacks, but CBS reported that the U.S. is looking into whether Iran is responsible.
Iran has been behind a range of hacks in recent months following the start of the U.S. and Israel-led war against Tehran, which killed Iran’s supreme leader in February. Iranian-backed hackers have since launched a destructive hack on medical device maker Stryker, hacked the mass transit system in Los Angeles, and compromised more than a hundred water facilities across the United States, in what the agency CISA has called “opportunistic” attacks in response to the widespread U.S. bombing of Iran.
The incident illustrates how shipping vessels, oil tankers, and the broader global logistics network can be targeted by hackers: tankers often carry complex networks spanning the length of the vessel to aid navigation, cargo organization, and day-to-day operations. The joint FBI-Coast Guard statement said there were “no reports of operational disruptions, vessel instability, physical danger to crews, or environmental impacts.”
Why it matters
The boarding shows US authorities now treat a compromised commercial vessel’s onboard networks as a national-security matter worth a physical intervention, underscoring how exposed maritime shipping — and the oil supply chain it carries — has become to cyberattack.