The U.S. military said on Saturday that it disabled a Panama-flagged commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman after the crew “ignored repeated warnings and attempted to run the ongoing naval blockade against Iran.”
An American military jet struck M/V Ocean Molica, known as the “Arika Sun,” with “a precision munition, fully disabling the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew,” U.S. Central Command stated. “The large cargo vessel was attempting to transit regional waters after having previously departed an Iranian port.”
CENTCOM posted video footage of what it said was the ship being struck.
The U.S. military “resumed American’s blockade against all ships entering or departing Iranian ports on July 14,” CENTCOM said. “Four commercial vessels have been disabled and 135 ships have been turned around during three months of strict enforcement. Additionally, U.S. forces have destroyed 10 tankers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ multibillion-dollar shadow network over the same period.”
