US strikes another tanker in Hormuz as it tightens Iranian port blockade
US forces struck and disabled another oil tanker attempting to bypass the Iranian port blockade, CENTCOM said Thursday. It was the third such strike this week and the ninth since the blockade began in April.
Latest Incident in Hormuz
US forces struck and disabled another oil tanker attempting to bypass the blockade of Iranian ports this week, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday. An aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of a Guinea-Bissau-flagged vessel after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces.
This was the third such strike this week and the ninth since the blockade began on April 13. The attack occurred early Thursday (around 4:20 am CEST) in the Gulf of Oman, where the ship was attempting to transport oil.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre reported a fire on the tanker 21 nautical miles northeast of Sohar, Oman. The Indian embassy in Oman said the Omani navy was evacuating crew members. According to British marine security firm Vanguard, the tanker had 20 crew on board.
A similar strike occurred the day before off the coast of Oman, when a US warplane fired precision munitions into the engine room of the Palau-flagged MT Settebello after the crew failed to comply. India subsequently summoned the senior US diplomat in New Delhi Wednesday to lodge a "strong protest" after that attack left three Indian crewmembers missing, later confirmed dead.
On Monday, a US F-18 Super Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln hit and disabled the Palau-flagged MT Marivex in the Gulf of Oman on the same grounds. The US military said that since the blockade began on April 13, it has "redirected 135 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass."
The attack is the latest in a series of missile and drone strikes on commercial shipping in the strait, which has been under two rival blockades for months. Tehran halted cargo traffic through the key waterway at the start of the war on February 28, while the US has imposed its own blockade on all Iranian vessels and ports in the meantime.
