US helicopter opens fire on Panama-flagged ship ‘breaking blockade of Iran’
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "US helicopter opens fire on Panama-flagged ship ‘breaking blockade of Iran’")
The US helicopter fired at the ship’s rudder in the Gulf of Oman, sparking a fire on board. Photograph: (AFP)
The Panama-flagged vessel had reportedly ignored warnings from US forces as it tried to breach the blockade of an Iranian port. The helicopter then fired at the ship’s rudder in the Gulf of Oman, sparking a fire on board, which was later extinguished.
US forces opened fire on a Panama-flagged ship that tried to run the American blockade of Iranian ports early Tuesday, a US official said, stepping up enforcement as the Trump administration attempts to squeeze the regime economically. The Panama-flagged vessel had reportedly ignored warnings from US forces as it tried to breach the blockade of an Iranian port.
The helicopter then fired at the ship’s rudder in the Gulf of Oman, sparking a fire on board, which was later extinguished.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of an incident involving a container ship and military forces in the Gulf of Oman. Maritime security sources said the vessel was believed to have been struck by a missile off the coast of Pakistan.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties in the incident, which took place before dawn on Tuesday, but the official said the ship appeared to be trying to transfer its crew to another civilian vessel after the attack.
Earlier, British maritime risk management group Vanguard and a separate maritime security source reported that a Panama-flagged container vessel named Vela Nova was struck by a missile fired from a helicopter while transiting through the Gulf of Oman about 71 nautical miles from the coast of Pakistan.
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“The missile struck the vessel, causing a fire that was subsequently extinguished,” said Vanguard’s initial report on the incident, adding that all 17 crew were accounted for.
The location of the incident is significant, since the Gulf of Oman servesias a crucial shipping route linking the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz.
The Vela Nova is registered to Golden Valley Marine Investment in Liberia and operated by Doris Shipping & Trading in Turkey.
Charlie Brown, senior adviser to United Against a Nuclear Iran, told the Washington Post that the Vela Nova had recently called at Mumbai alongside vessels linked to Iran.
He said the ship had been alongside the Zyra and Enzo 2, which were subsequently associated with Port Klang.
Brown claimed the Zyra had switched from the Iranian flag to what he described as a “false Comoros flag”, raising questions over whether reflagging was being used to obscure Iranian connections.
The disabling of the Vela Nova near the blockade line highlights heightened scrutiny of shipping with potential links to Tehran, he added.
US Central Command has not confirmed that American forces carried out the reported attack.
Meanwhile, the UKMTO advised vessels to consider the latest maritime security information and maintain awareness of the evolving situation.
