U.S. Fires to Disable Panama-Flag Ship Accused of Violating Iran Blockade

The U.S. military fired missiles to disable a Panama-flagged cargo ship Tuesday after the vessel allegedly ignored repeated warnings to stop while attempting to violate the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles at the engine room of Vela Nova, disabling the vessel’s steering capability.

“As of Aug. 11, CENTCOM has redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade, disabled 3 non-compliant vessels, and boarded 2,” CENTCOM said.

According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, the incident occurred before dawn as U.S. forces sought to prevent the vessel from continuing its voyage. There were no immediate reports of casualties, and the crew subsequently appeared to be preparing to transfer to another civilian vessel.

Maritime security firm Vanguard reported that Vela Nova was struck while sailing westbound through the Gulf of Oman, approximately 71 nautical miles off Pakistan. A resulting fire was extinguished and all 17 crew members were accounted for, according to the WSJ report.