U.S. jet disables cargo ship that tried to run the Iran blockade

A U.S. fighter jet knocked out the engines of a cargo ship that tried to slip through the American blockade of Iran. It is the fourth commercial vessel the military has disabled since it restarted the blockade in July.

What the military says happened

U.S. Central Command said the Panama-flagged ship Ocean Molica, also known as the Arika Sun, was hit Saturday in the Gulf of Oman. The jet struck the stern with a precision munition that fully disabled the ship's propulsion. The command said none of the crew was hurt.

According to the command the vessel had left an Iranian port and its crew ignored repeated warnings to stop. It said the ship was trying to cross regional waters in defiance of the blockade. Video released by the command shows an explosion and a plume of smoke covering the vessel.

Three months of enforcement

Central Command says it resumed the blockade of all ships entering or leaving Iranian ports on July 14. In that time it says it has disabled four commercial vessels and turned around 135 others. It also says it destroyed 10 tankers tied to what it calls the Revolutionary Guard's multibillion-dollar shadow network.

Mariners were told to heed the blockade warnings and to monitor official notices when they operate near the Strait of Hormuz.

Questions at home

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut questioned the strike. He asked why taxpayers are paying billions to hit commercial ships and argued the real aim is to gain leverage in talks with Tehran.

Trouble in the strait

The strike came as ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz kept coming under fire. A British maritime monitoring agency said an outbound tanker was hit on its port side by an unknown projectile late Saturday and caught fire. The crew was reported safe.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it struck a large gas carrier that took what it called an illegal route along the southern edge of the strait. It also claimed a supertanker burned after hitting a naval mine. Neither claim could be independently confirmed. Separately the United Arab Emirates said it rescued 22 people from an oil tanker that caught fire in the Gulf.

Before the war began in late February about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas moved through the strait. Shipping through the waterway has faced repeated attacks since then.