Tankers carried oil and LNG, raising spill and explosion risks
The Strait of Gibraltar, like the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, sits at a critical maritime chokepoint where roughly 300 ships transit each day, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. The location of the attacks, together with the destination of the ships, is likely to raise concerns that the attackers were trying to disrupt a key maritime chokepoint or attack a U.S. port, according to U.S. officials familiar with the incidents.
U.S. officials said the boardings and inspections “were designed to ensure integrity of the vessel’s operational and information technology systems following indications that the networks of both vessels were compromised,” according to statements from the Coast Guard and FBI. The Coast Guard has specialized teams trained to respond to and investigate cyberattacks on commercial vessels. Earlier this year, the teams boarded several dark-fleet vessels seized by the U.S. to ensure that the ships’ systems were not compromised before arriving in the U.S. or at other ports.
The vessels were carrying oil and liquefied natural gas, raising the risk of an explosion, a collision or an oil spill. Ships run on integrated systems that, if compromised, could shut down the engine or force the crew to lose control of navigation.
“For a vessel that’s carrying tens of millions of gallons of crude oil, which is highly volatile, there’s always a risk of fire explosion,” Rear Adm. Jason Tama, head of the Coast Guard’s Cyber Command, told The Wall Street Journal in June. “The atmosphere in the tanks has to be very carefully managed to ensure that you’re not going to get a situation where there’s a fire explosion. And then there’s always a risk of an oil spill,” Tama said.
U.S. authorities have not confirmed whether Iran or another adversary like Russia or China is behind the attacks. But officials said they are concerned the recent incidents are opening up a new front in the seven-month war. The Coast Guard and FBI declined to say how many cyberattack cases they have investigated since the war with Iran began. Bloomberg News earlier reported one of the boardings.
The U.S. and Iran have been locked in a battle to control the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway off Iran’s coast that allows for the transit of a significant portion of the world’s oil supply. Iran has attacked commercial ships trying to transit without permission or first paying a toll, prompting U.S. retaliation.
Iran-backed Houthis are exerting control over another critical waterway, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea. Iran and its proxies have sought to choke off oil shipments to pressure the U.S. and its allies in the Persian Gulf, according to U.S. officials.
Experts have warned cyberattacks on ships can be extraordinarily dangerous, depending upon the sophistication and the type of vessel involved.