US cripples cargo ship attempting to run blockade on Iran

US Navy helicopter fires Hellfire missiles at cargo ship accused of trying to break Iran blockade.

By World Israel News Staff

US forces fired Hellfire missiles at a Panama-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday after it allegedly ignored repeated warnings and attempted to sail to an Iranian port in violation of Washington’s naval blockade, US Central Command said.

The M/V Vela Nova was traveling west through international waters when a US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the vessel’s engine area, disabling its steering system and bringing it to a halt, according to CENTCOM.

“The ship is no longer transiting to Iran in violation of the US blockade, which remains in full effect,” CENTCOM said.

The strike represents a significant escalation in the US enforcement of the blockade, moving beyond intercepting and redirecting commercial shipping to the use of missiles against a civilian vessel that Washington said refused orders to turn away.

The Vela Nova was approximately 71 nautical miles — about 131 kilometers — off the Pakistani coast when it was struck, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, which coordinates maritime-security information in the region.

The center said the vessel’s master confirmed that the stern and steering compartment had been hit, leaving the ship unable to maneuver under its own control.

An explosion sparked a fire aboard the ship, but it was subsequently extinguished. All crew members were accounted for and no injuries were reported, according to the maritime center.

British maritime risk-management firm Vanguard similarly reported that the missile “struck the vessel, causing a fire that was subsequently extinguished.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that 17 crew members were aboard and that they were transferred or preparing to transfer to another civilian vessel after the attack.

The newspaper said the US helicopter opened fire only after the vessel’s crew ignored warnings issued by American forces enforcing the blockade.

CENTCOM said Tuesday that the Vela Nova was the third vessel it has disabled while enforcing the blockade.

US forces have also redirected 55 commercial ships accused of attempting to enter or leave Iranian ports in violation of the restrictions and have boarded two others for compliance checks.

The figures suggest that most encounters have ended without force.

As recently as August 9, CENTCOM said it had redirected 55 vessels, disabled two and boarded two, meaning Tuesday’s attack on the Vela Nova raised the number of ships disabled to three.

CENTCOM concluded its announcement by saying US forces in the region were “highly vigilant, lethal, and ready.”

The US naval blockade has become one of Washington’s principal means of exerting economic pressure on Tehran as the Trump administration seeks an end to the war and an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.

The blockade had been suspended as part of the June diplomatic framework between the two countries but was restored after fighting resumed in July.

More than 15 US warships, including two aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship, are currently deployed in waters around the Arabian Sea, according to the Associated Press.

The military pressure comes as Washington and Tehran remain locked in a broader confrontation over control of maritime traffic around Iran.

Iran has sharply curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes, while the US has sought to prevent commercial vessels from reaching Iranian ports through the Gulf of Oman.

The two sides have simultaneously pursued indirect diplomacy aimed at establishing rules for reopening shipping routes and reaching a broader ceasefire.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that Washington, rather than Tehran, now controls the strategically vital waterway.

“We totally control the Strait of Hormuz. We have control over it. Nobody else. Only us,” Trump told reporters.

Iran has disputed that position and maintained that the strait will not fully reopen unless Washington accepts Iranian conditions in negotiations.

The Vela Nova incident occurred on the same day that shipping came under attack at the opposite end of the Arabian Peninsula.

A cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen was struck in an attack attributed by Yemeni authorities to the Iran-backed Houthis, killing four crew members.

The Joint Maritime Information Center now assesses the threat level in the Strait of Hormuz as “severe” and the Gulf of Oman as “substantial,” citing the combination of Iranian activity, US blockade enforcement and the possibility of further strikes against commercial shipping.