A US military jet struck the stern of a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman “without causing any harm to the crew,” Centcom said.
Published October 11, 2026
The U.S. military grounded a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman after its crew “ignored repeated warnings and attempted to enforce the ongoing naval blockade against Iran,” according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
U.S. military jets on Saturday struck the stern of the Panama-flagged M/V Ocean Molica, also known as Arica Sun, with precision munitions, “completely halting the ship’s propulsion without causing any harm to the crew,” CENTCOM said in a statement. The ship was attempting to transit regional waters “after previously departing from an Iranian port.”
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CENTCOM said its forces “re-instated a blockade of all ships entering and exiting Iranian ports on July 14,” disabling four merchant vessels and turning around 135 vessels during a “three-month long crackdown.”
During the same period, the U.S. military destroyed 10 tankers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s “multi-billion dollar shadow network,” according to Centcom.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had rammed a ship attempting to take an “illegal route” through the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran seeks to tighten its own blockade of the vital waterway.
In a statement carried by Iranian official media, the Revolutionary Guards claimed that Iranian forces had “seized control of the strait.”
“While carrying out this mission, a few hours earlier, a large LPG carrier, NV Sunshine, owned by Natwit, was struck as it was attempting to take an illegal route south of the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said.
The UK Maritime Trade Office (UKMTO) announced on Sunday that an outgoing tanker traveling through the Channel was hit by an unknown projectile on its port side, causing a fire on board. British authorities said the crew was reported to be safe, but damage and environmental impact were unknown at the time of reporting.
Iran is seeking to tighten control of the Strait of Hormuz during the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, insisting that ships obtain permission to cross through its preferred shipping lanes. However, there is an increasing risk that ships will choose alternative routes along the southern coast of the strait.
The UKMTO said on Thursday that a ship sailing 94 kilometers (58 miles) north of Madinat Ash Shamal off Qatar’s northern coast was hit by multiple projectiles, causing numerous casualties.
The agency did not say the origin of the vessel or the number of casualties, adding that authorities were investigating the incident amid a recent increase in attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz.
Gulf ships attempting to cross the strait, the only sea route into and out of the oil-rich region, have faced repeated attacks since the United States and Israel went to war in late February.
The Strait of Hormuz remains vital to the global economy, with about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passing through it before the war began.
