The US Coast Guard has confirmed that it boarded a tanker transiting the Gulf of Mexico in August after the vessel's network was attacked, following a Wall Street Journal report that at least two US-bound tankers had been hit. A Coast Guard spokesperson said a "highly specialized team" — USCG Law Enforcement personnel, USCG Cyber Protection Team members, a vessel inspector and FBI Cyber Action Team operators — embarked the vessel on 21 August "to conduct a comprehensive cyber security boarding and investigation" after indications that its network had been compromised by foreign cyber actors; the Journal reported a second ship was boarded on 24 August. Bloomberg identified one vessel as VL Prosperity, and the Iranian government-aligned outlet Mehr reported it was Liberian-flagged, sailing from an Egyptian port to the United States, attacked on 7 August while transiting the Strait of Gibraltar, and out of communication for 30 hours. A crew member told Mehr the attackers were allegedly able to increase engine speed and disable the ship's fuel and engine-oil tank; the outlet attributed to Russian analysts a link to the current US–Iran military conflict, though no group has claimed the incident. The Coast Guard says there are currently no reports of operational disruption, vessel instability, physical danger to crews or environmental impacts, and that it is working with port operators, owners and local maritime stakeholders to keep port operations running safely; it declined to describe the attack's nature, attribute it, or confirm whether the 21 August boarding involved VL Prosperity, and the FBI did not respond to requests for comment. The naval context matters to the reading: one day before the alleged attack on VL Prosperity, North Carolina Ports reported a cyberattack that forced a shift to manual operations after its IT system was compromised by "an outside actor or group", requiring a contingency plan and notification of multiple state agencies and the Coast Guard. US, European and Asian ports have been repeatedly targeted over five years — the Port of Seattle refused a ransom in 2024, and Royal Dirkzwager, DNV, Oiltanking, Mabanaft and Expeditors International were all hit in 2022–23.

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