US forces disable third vessel transiting the Gulf of Oman

U.S. forces disabled a ship Tuesday as it transited the Gulf of Oman, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.

The Panama-flagged M/V Vela Nova ignored American forces’ repeated warnings to stop while the ship sailed toward an Iranian port, CENTCOM said.

In response, a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the Vela Nova’s engine room, CENTCOM said.

The incident marks the third vessel disabled since the U.S. military reimposed its naval blockade of Iran on July 14. CENTCOM said it has redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade, disabled three non-compliant vessels and boarded two.

U.S. forces disabled the Mozambique-flagged M/T Lavine on July 24, following the disabling of the Curaçao-flagged M/T Belma a week earlier. CENTCOM alleged that both vessels ignored warnings to stop.

“American forces remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” CENTCOM said.

Later on Tuesday, Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s defense minister, told reporters in Islamabad that the U.S. and Iran were close to an arrangement over maritime shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.