Coast Guard personnel and FBI agents recently boarded a commercial oil tanker heading to Texas after suspecting that its onboard systems had been hacked by a foreign actor while traveling across the Atlantic. The operation took place on August 21, when a team of Coast Guard law-enforcement officers, a vessel inspector, cyber experts from the Coast Guard Cyber Protection Team, and FBI Cyber Action Team members examined both the ship's operational and information technology systems. They worked with the crew and the vessel's corporate operators to assess and address the potential security threat. The Coast Guard has stated that there are currently no reports of operational issues, instability, danger to the crew, or environmental harm as a result of the incident. While the U.S. has not officially blamed any specific country for the breach, Iranian state media has widely reported on the event. Iranian reports refer to the vessel as the VL Prosperity, a large crude oil carrier registered in Liberia. The ship was reportedly heading to Galveston, Texas, when the incident occurred. Unconfirmed details about the attack first emerged after the ship passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow waterway between Spain and Morocco. On August 20, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported that the VL Prosperity had been attacked on August 7 while traveling from Egypt toward the United States. The report, citing an unnamed crew member, claimed that attackers accessed the ship's engine systems, altered cooling and fuel flow, and disrupted communication for 30 hours. A few days later, Iran's Tasnim News Agency published a headline suggesting that no American vessel is safe from cyber threats, asking if "cannons will give way to codes." The U.S. has not confirmed the full scope of the breach, only stating that there were signs the vessel's network had been compromised. Iranian media has alleged that hackers gained control over propulsion, navigation, and cargo systems. Modern oil tankers rely heavily on interconnected operational technology, or OT, to manage critical systems like propulsion, navigation, and cargo handling. These systems are often connected to the internet, making them potentially vulnerable to cyberattacks. If a hostile actor were to gain remote access, they could theoretically manipulate a vessel's movement or critical machinery, turning a massive oil tanker into a potential threat to ports or infrastructure.