US Central Command (CENTCOM) said US forces on Saturday, 10 October 2026, targeted and disabled a Panama-flagged commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. According to CENTCOM, the vessel had earlier left one of Iran's ports and was trying to break the US naval blockade of the Islamic Republic.
According to Voice of America, the ship is called "Ocean Molika" and is also known as "Arika Sun". CENTCOM said a US fighter jet struck the stern of the ship with precision-guided munitions, and its propulsion system was completely disabled, with no injuries to the crew. According to Central Command, the ship's crew had ignored repeated warnings from US forces. CENTCOM did not name the port the ship departed from.
The naval blockade of the Islamic Republic: CENTCOM's figures
US forces resumed the blockade of ships entering and leaving Iranian ports on 14 July, after the ceasefire collapsed. According to CENTCOM, over the past three months four commercial ships have been disabled and another 135 have been forced to change course. Central Command also says US forces have destroyed 10 tankers belonging to the IRGC's "shadow network". CENTCOM urged mariners to heed blockade warnings and navigation notices in the Gulf of Oman and on the routes leading to the Strait of Hormuz.
The naval blockade has had severe consequences for the Islamic Republic's economy: 19 Iranian tankers near Sri Lanka are adrift with shortages of water, food and fuel, and analysts at Kpler predict that the Islamic Republic's oil export revenue will fall to zero by mid-December. The incident comes as the IRGC has in recent days claimed that a supertanker struck a mine in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened shipping.
Since the naval blockade resumed in July, CENTCOM says four commercial ships have been disabled and 135 ships forced to turn back.
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