US Forces Disable Panama-Flagged Container Ship in Gulf of Oman

U.S. forces disabled the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova after striking the vessel while it was sailing toward an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman on 11 August, allegedly in violation of the U.S. blockade against Iran. The crew evacuated the vessel and was reported safe.

Vessel VELA NOVA, image credit: V.TONIC

According to CENTCOM, a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the vessel's engine room after the vessel ignored repeated warning calls from U.S. forces. The attack disabled the steering gear of the vessel, making it unable to continue sailing towards Iran.

Maritime security firm Vanguard reported that the incident occurred approximately 71 nautical miles off the coast of Pakistan, triggering a fire that was later extinguished. The security firm stated that the crew abandoned the ship, and all 17 crew members were accounted for.

Following this incident, CENTCOM stated that three non-compliant vessels were disabled and two were boarded. The U.S. forces had redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade.

Vela Nova is a 1996-built containership. The vessel measures 145.7 meters in length and 23.32 meters in width.