OT / ICS · 5h ago
The U.S. Coast Guard and FBI boarded two foreign tankers in the Gulf of Mexico in late August after indications that both ships’ operational and information technology networks were compromised. One vessel, identified by Bloomberg as VL Prosperity, was reported to have lost communications for more than 30 hours.
The agencies said the boardings were meant to preserve evidence and verify the ships’ integrity before they reached port. In plain terms, that means the response went beyond remote incident handling: officials put people on deck to check whether the vessel could still operate safely and whether the compromise had reached systems tied to navigation, propulsion, or cargo operations.
For maritime operators, this pushes cyber response into the same lane as safety and port continuity. If a tanker’s shipboard networks are suspect, the exposure does not end at the firewall; it can follow the vessel into port, into coordination with authorities, and into any systems that rely on the ship’s reported state.
2 sources covering this story
The Record from Recorded Future
Coast Guard, FBI boarded tanker after attack by ‘foreign cyber actors’
U.S. personnel boarded an oil tanker in the Gulf of Mexico to “ensure integrity of the vessel’s operational and information technology systems," after an apparent cyberattack, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Coast Guard, FBI board US-bound foreign ships in order to probe for cyberattacks
Coast Guard and FBI boarded two foreign tankers in the Gulf of Mexico to investigate cyberattacks that compromised the vessels' operational and IT networks.
Part of the PlainSec briefing for 2026-09-16