Coast Guard and FBI Probe Possible Cyber Breach on Texas-Bound Tanker

On Aug. 21, Coast Guard law-enforcement personnel, a vessel inspector, Coast Guard Cyber Protection Team members and FBI Cyber Action Team operators boarded an inbound foreign-flagged oil tanker bound for Galveston, Texas. Investigators examined the ship's operational and information-technology systems and worked with the crew and corporate operators to oust the threat. The Coast Guard confirmed the boarding on Sept. 15 only after a Bloomberg inquiry and said there are no reports of operational disruptions, vessel instability, physical danger to crews, or environmental impacts. The vessel appears to be the VL Prosperity, a 333-meter Liberian-flagged very large crude carrier capable of carrying roughly 2.3 million barrels of oil. The U.S. has not attributed the potential breach to a specific actor. What is contested. Mehr News Agency reported Aug. 20 that the tanker was attacked Aug. 7 while sailing from Egypt's Sidi Kerir terminal toward the United States, losing communications for about 30 hours in the Strait of Gibraltar. Citing an unnamed crew member, Mehr alleged attackers penetrated engine-room systems, reduced engine cooling flow, increased engine speed and interfered with fuel and lubricating-oil systems. Tasnim News Agency's Aug. 24 article was titled No American Vessel Is Safe Anymore: Will Cannons Give Way to Codes?, and in mid-September Tasnim suggested the tanker could have been hijacked or turned into a floating oil bomb. Iranian state media amplified the story after the breach.