US forces disabled a Palau-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it allegedly broke through an ongoing blockade imposed by the United States against Iran by trying to sail to an Iranian port, the American military said on June 9.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that an F/A-18 Super Hornet launched from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) struck the engineering and steering compartments of the unladen tanker M/T Marivex with a “precision munition” on June 8 after its crew “failed to comply with” instructions from US forces.

“Marivex is no longer sailing to Iran,” CENTCOM said in a statement on X.  

Reuters, citing an informed source, said the vessel had been warned multiple times and altered course on three occasions before again to pass through Omani territorial waters en route to Iran.

India’s Ministry of Shipping said the tanker had 24 Indian crew members. A fire broke out on board following the strike, but all crew members were reported safe.

Marivex had been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

CENTCOM said that since the blockade of Iranian ports began on April 13, its forces had disabled seven “non-compliant” vessels, turned back 134 ships that complied with orders and allowed 42 vessels carrying humanitarian aid to proceed.

Iran has condemned US actions against vessels linked to the country as a violation of a ceasefire that took effect on April 8, ending a 39-day war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February.

Washington imposed the blockade after Iran sharply restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz from early March in response to the conflict. The strategic waterway linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman normally carries around 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.