U.S. Investigates Cyberattacks on Texas-Bound Energy Tankers

The U.S. is investigating suspected cyberattacks on two Texas-bound energy tankers in August, “spark[ing] concerns that Tehran is looking for novel ways to widen the war in the Middle East” (The Wall Street Journal, subscription).

What’s going on: “The two tankers were transiting the Strait of Gibraltar in early August when they were hit by the attacks. The ships—an oil tanker and a liquefied petroleum tanker—were making their way to ports in Texas at the time, according to tracking data and one of the officials.”

• The attacks’ location and the vessels’ destination have raised concerns that Iran or aligned actors could be aiming to blow up an American port or disrupt another maritime chokepoint, according to the Journal.
• The U.S. and Iran have been fighting for control of the Strait of Hormuz, which regularly carries about one-fifth of the world’s daily crude, since February, when the U.S. and Israel struck Iranian targets.
• The Iran-backed Houthis are now exerting control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

How it was being handled: U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement and FBI cyber personnel boarded the tankers on Aug. 21 in the Gulf of Mexico (Foreign Policy Journal).

• The military branch “spent three to four days conducting incident responses aboard the vessels to address their vulnerabilities and ensure they could transit safely.”

The details: One of the tankers, the VL Prosperity, was carrying over 2 million barrels of oil from Egypt to Texas when it was targeted. The other, the Kohaku, was on its way to a different Texas port to load liquefied petroleum gas.

• “[T]he attackers infiltrated the VL Prosperity’s engine-room systems, reduced the engine’s cooling flow, increased the engine speed and disabled the ship’s fuel and engine-oil tank,” according to an unconfirmed report that also said no group had claimed responsibility for the attack.
• The attack on the VL Prosperity left the vessel without communications for 30 hours.