CENTCOM: U.S. jet disabled merchant ship in Gulf of Oman after attempt to breach blockade on Iran
U.S. Central Command said a fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged vessel Ocean Mulika (aka Arica Sun) on October 10, disabling its propulsion without injuring the crew after the ship ignored warnings and tried to enter Iranian territorial waters.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday that its forces disabled a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on October 10, after its crew ignored repeated warnings and attempted to breach the maritime blockade imposed on Iran.
The command said in a statement that a U.S. fighter aircraft struck the stern of the ship "Ocean Mulika", also known as "Arica Sun", which sails under the Panamanian flag, with precision-guided munitions, causing the ship's propulsion system to be disabled entirely without injuring the crew.
The statement added that the cargo ship had been attempting to cross into territorial waters after departing an Iranian port earlier.
The command noted that it resumed enforcement of the blockade on all ships entering or departing Iranian ports on July 14, and that during three months of strict enforcement four commercial ships were disabled and 135 other vessels were forced to alter course and return.
The statement also said U.S. forces destroyed 10 tankers linked to a covert network associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, with an estimated value of billions of dollars, during the same period.
