US Coast Guard and FBI personnel boarded two foreign-flagged vessels bound for the United States after receiving indications that their computer networks had been compromised, according to the agencies.
The boardings took place in the Gulf of Mexico on August 21 and 24. The FBI said joint teams from the two agencies intervened after receiving information that the networks of both vessels had been compromised. The Coast Guard said foreign cyber actors were involved but did not identify them.
Neither agency disclosed further details about the vessels or the nature of the suspected breaches.
Maritime security company Dryad Global identified one of the vessels as the Liberian-flagged MV VL Prosperity. Ship-tracking data showed the vessel near Galveston, Texas.
Iranian news agency Mehr had previously reported that MV VL Prosperity suffered what it described as a major cyberattack while transiting the Strait of Gibraltar on August 20. An unnamed crew member cited by the agency said the incident caused a communications blackout lasting about 30 hours.
The same account alleged that attackers accessed engine-room systems, reduced cooling flow to the main engine, increased engine speed and interfered with fuel and engine-oil tank systems. These claims have not been independently verified. Neither US agency has publicly linked the reported boarding to the alleged attack on VL Prosperity.
The US operations come amid growing concern over maritime cybersecurity following a series of reported incidents involving commercial vessels. Some media reports have linked recent cyber activity to Iran, but US authorities did not identify the actors involved in the two cases.
Dryad Global said shipboard cyberattacks could be carried out without highly sophisticated capabilities and expected such incidents to increase.
