US military disables ship attempting to bypass Strait of Hormuz blockade
U.S. Central Command (Centcom) on Saturday said its forces disabled a ship that attempted to bypass the U.S. naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Centcom released a statement saying that the commercial cargo vessel "ignored repeated warnings" before forces disabled it in the Gulf of Oman. "A U.S. military fighter jet struck the stern...
US forces disabled a commercial cargo vessel that attempted to bypass a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. According to US Central Command (Centcom), the vessel, identified as the Panama-flagged Ocean Molika, also known as the Arika Sun, ignored repeated warnings before being struck by a US fighter jet with a precision munition on Saturday. The jet struck the stern of the ship.
The ship had left an Iranian port and was trying to transit regional waters in defiance of the blockade. No crew members were harmed, Centcom said in a statement on Sunday. Video footage released by Centcom showed an explosion erupting from the ship, sending a plume of smoke into the air.
Since resuming the blockade on July 14, US forces say they have disabled four commercial vessels and turned around 135 more. The restrictions cover ships entering or leaving Iranian ports. Separately, an outbound tanker was struck by an unknown projectile, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, The National Business, The National UAE — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
