MCAD Maritime Cyber Attack Database
Year2019 |
MonthJuly |
Reference number20190702 |
Impact areaVessel |
Incident locationStrait of Hormuz |
Incident countryIran |
Victim countryIran |
Victim identityBritish oil tanker 'Stena Impero' |
Victim TypeVessel |
MethodGPS Spoofing |
Attacker countryIran, Russia |
In July 2019, British-flagged tanker Stena Impero was reportedly fallen victim to an alleged GPS spoofing incident in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, resulting in the vessel violating maritime regulations. Subsequently, the vessel got seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The crew of the vessel, 19 in total, were held in confinement for over 19 days. Afterwards, Britain's MI6 has investigated the incident and proclaims that Iran and/or Russia could be involved in purposefully spoofing the ship into Iranian waters. The incident is considered a follow-up of the seizure of an Iranian ship by the Britain in Gibraltar two weeks earlier. The region is considered to be a high risk area for vessels. In 2016, a similar incident occurred were two U.S. Navy ships were allegedly spoofed into Iranian waters as well before getting seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.