Hackers infiltrate systems of two US-bound ships, officials say

Neither agency provided further details about the incidents or explained the discrepancies between their accounts. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Corey Ranslem, CEO of maritime security group Dryad Global, said that his firm had confirmed that one of the ships was the Liberian-flagged VL Prosperity. The vessel is currently anchored in waters around Galveston in Texas, according to LSEG and MarineTraffic ship tracking data.

Liberia’s flag registry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran's Mehr news agency reported on August 20 that VL Prosperity had suffered what it called "a major cyberattack" while transiting through the Strait of Gibraltar and that its communications had been knocked out for 30 hours.

Citing an unnamed crew member, Mehr reported that hackers had also infiltrated the engine-room systems, reduced the engine’s cooling flow, increased the engine speed, and disabled the ship’s fuel and engine-oil tank.