A trojan malware infection has been detected on board the passenger ferry Fantastic while the vessel was berthed at the port of Sète in southern France. Reports indicate the malicious software may have enabled attackers to gain remote access to the ship’s systems.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the incident as “very serious,” saying that foreign state involvement is among the leading hypotheses. The country’s domestic security service, DGSI, has opened an investigation.
The malware was discovered while the ship was in Sète, after French officials received information from Italian counterparts, prompting an immediate security cordon around the vessel. Specialists later identified the threat as a remote access trojan (RAT), which could potentially allow full remote control of onboard systems.
Two crew members were detained for questioning. A Bulgarian national was released without charge, while a Latvian national has been formally charged with conspiracy and computer hacking allegedly carried out in the interests of a foreign state.
Following an extensive technical inspection, authorities deemed the vessel safe and allowed it to resume operations.
Fantastic is an Italian-flag passenger/ro-ro ferry built in 1996, measuring 188.15 m in length and 26.8 m in beam, with a gross tonnage of 35,849 GT.
