Experts warn that the global shipping industry is vulnerable to cyber-attack

The next hacker target appears likely to be the open seas and the oil tankers and container vessels that ship 90 per cent of the goods moved around the planet.

Hackers recently shut down a floating oil rig by tilting it, while another rig was so riddled with computer malware that it took 19 days to make the rig seaworthy again.

Somali pirates help choose their targets by viewing navigational data online, prompting ships to turn off navigational devices or fake the data so it looks like they are somewhere else. Also, hackers attacked the Belgian port of Antwerp, located containers, made off with their smuggled drugs and deleted the records.

While data on the extent of the maritime industry's exposure to cyber-crime is sparse, a study of the energy sector by insurance brokers Willis this month found that the industry "may be sitting on an uninsured time bomb".

Globally, it estimated that cyber attacks against oil and gas infrastructure would cost energy companies close to US$1.9 billion by 2018. The British government says cyber attacks already cost its oil and gas companies £400 million (HK$5.2 billion) a year.

In the maritime industry, the number of known cases is low as attacks often remain invisible to the company, or businesses do not want to report them for fear of alarming investors, regulators or insurers, security experts say.

There are few reports that hackers have compromised maritime cyber security. but epxerts say there are holes in the three key navigation technologies: GPS, marine Automatic Identification System (AIS), and a system to view digital charts called Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS).