US forces have disabled a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman after it allegedly ignored repeated warnings and tried to breach a naval blockade of Iranian ports, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
A US military fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged M/V Ocean Molica, also known as the Arika Sun, with a precision munition on Saturday. The strike disabled the vessel’s propulsion system, while CENTCOM said no crew members were harmed.
CENTCOM said the ship had previously left an Iranian port and was attempting to transit regional waters despite warnings from US forces.
The command said it had been enforcing a blockade on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports since July 14. Over three months, it claimed to have disabled four commercial ships and turned back 135 others.
It also said US forces had destroyed 10 tankers linked to what it described as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “multibillion-dollar shadow network”.
Iran’s IRGC separately claimed to have attacked a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz for using what it called an “illegal route”, as Tehran seeks to enforce its own restrictions on shipping through the waterway.
In a statement carried by Iranian state media, the IRGC said it had “taken control of the administration of the strait”. It claimed that an LPG carrier, the NV Sunshine, owned by NatWit, had been struck while attempting to pass south of the Strait of Hormuz.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said an outbound tanker in the strait was hit on its port side by an unidentified projectile on Sunday, causing a fire. The crew were reported to be safe, while the extent of the damage and any environmental impact had not been established.
Shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz has faced repeated attacks since the US and Israel began their war on Iran in late February. The passage is the sole maritime route in or out of the oil-rich Gulf region, and about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas travelled through it before the conflict began.
