US fighter jet strikes cargo ship trying to break blockade of Iran in Gulf of Oman

The US military has carried out an air strike on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel was trying to slip through the US naval blockade imposed on Iran. The incident has heightened tension over the world's maritime trade routes.

US Central Command, or CENTCOM, confirmed the action in an official statement. According to the statement, the Panama-flagged ship is the Ocean Molica, also known as Arika Sun. It had left an Iranian port and was trying to pass through the waters of the region. CENTCOM said the ship's crew ignored repeated signals and warnings.

CENTCOM said that on October 10 a US military fighter aircraft targeted the stern of the ship with a precision-guided munition. The strike left the vessel's entire propulsion system, the system that drives it forward, completely disabled, and the ship came to a halt at sea. The US military clarified that none of the crew on board was injured.

CENTCOM said US forces have been enforcing the blockade again since July 14 against all ships entering and leaving Iranian ports. In these three months of strict monitoring, four commercial vessels have been disabled and 135 ships have been turned back en route. In the same period, 10 tankers linked to a secret multibillion-dollar network of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have also been destroyed.

The US military has advised all mariners to heed CENTCOM's blockade warnings. Crews operating around the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz have been asked to keep watching Notice to Mariners broadcasts and to contact US naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16.

The Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz are considered highly sensitive routes for the movement of crude oil and goods worldwide. There are concerns that military action on these routes could affect global supply chains.