A US Navy MH-60 helicopter struck the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova with two Hellfire missiles in the Gulf of Oman on August 11, after the vessel repeatedly ignored warnings to halt its approach toward Iran, US Central Command confirmed.
The strike occurred approximately 71 nautical miles off the coast of Pakistan as the 30-year-old cargo ship was transiting westbound through the Gulf of Oman. Maritime security firm Vanguard reported that the missile impact caused a fire aboard the vessel, which was subsequently extinguished. All 17 crew members abandoned ship and were accounted for, with no reports of casualties.
The incident was first flagged by the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency, which reported an incident involving a container ship and military forces at 0715 UTC on August 11. UKMTO initially classified the vessel as a tanker before correcting the identification. AIS tracking data from Pole Star Global showed the Vela Nova at the reported position and marked as “not under command” following the strike.
According to CENTCOM, the Vela Nova had been attempting to breach the US-led naval blockade of Iran’s ports. The blockade, formally established on April 13, has intercepted dozens of vessels attempting to deliver goods to Iranian ports. US officials said the Vela Nova was the sixth ship struck by kinetic force since the embargo was imposed.
The incident underscores the widening scope of maritime confrontations in the region. The Gulf of Oman connects the Arabian Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, and the strike occurred in waters near Pakistan, far south of the traditional blockade enforcement zone. Maritime security sources said the ship had departed India’s Nhava Sheva port on August 6 before the incident.
The strike came one day before Houthi rebels killed six people aboard the Egyptian-owned cargo ship Tihamah in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, marking the first shipping fatalities linked to the Iran-aligned group since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28. Together, the two incidents highlight escalating risks across multiple maritime chokepoints in the Middle East.
Shipping industry analysts noted that the Vela Nova attack demonstrates the US military’s willingness to escalate enforcement beyond its established blockade perimeter. The vessel’s Panama flag adds diplomatic complexity, as Panama has not publicly commented on the strike against one of its registered ships.
Sources: Seatrade Maritime, Reuters, Wikipedia
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