US disables ship in Gulf of Oman over Iran blockade
US Central Command says a fighter jet left the Ocean Molica without propulsion after it sailed from an Iranian port. A British maritime agency describes it as a tanker.
US Central Command (Centcom) said a US fighter jet disabled the Ocean Molica, a Panama-flagged ship, in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, Oct. 10, according to Al Jazeera. A precision munition hit the stern and left the vessel without propulsion. The crew was not hurt.
Centcom says the crew disregarded several warnings and tried to run the naval blockade of Iran. The ship, it adds, had earlier sailed from an Iranian port. The command's words reach readers through Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera: the original statement could not be opened. There is no time or exact location for the strike.
The British maritime agency UKMTO later said it was investigating an "incident" in the area involving a tanker and military forces. Centcom calls the vessel a cargo ship and UKMTO a tanker, and the difference is unresolved. The ship's name is also spelled several ways, including Arika Sun. Neither Iran nor the ship's owner has responded.
The blockade on vessels bound to or from Iranian ports resumed on July 14. After three months of strict enforcement, Centcom counts four commercial ships disabled and 135 turned back. It also says it destroyed ten tankers from the "shadow network" of the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's elite military force. These are the US command's figures, with no independent verification.
The Gulf of Oman is the outlet to the Indian Ocean for the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passes, according to Al Jazeera. The war of the United States and Israel against Iran, which Al Jazeera describes as stalled, began in late February. Iran says ships must ask its permission to cross Hormuz.
In Washington, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy questioned the billions of taxpayer dollars spent on attacking commercial vessels. The Revolutionary Guard also claims it attacked the gas carrier NV Sunshine in Hormuz for using an "illegal route," which has not been independently verified.
What remains pending is the outcome of UKMTO's investigation into the type of ship and the circumstances of the strike.
