US Central Command disabled a Gambian-flagged bulk carrier called the Lian Star on May 30 after the vessel attempted to enter an Iranian port in defiance of a naval blockade. CENTCOM said the ship failed to comply with orders to stop, making it at least the sixth vessel forcibly prevented from breaching the maritime cordon since it went into effect on April 13.
The blockade has now redirected over 100 vessels, and the Treasury’s parallel sanctions campaign has frozen nearly $344 million in digital assets linked to the Iranian regime.
What happened with the Lian Star
US aircraft disabled the Lian Star without boarding it, leaving the ship adrift. The method mirrors previous enforcement actions in which US forces have used fire to disable rudders and smokestacks on non-compliant vessels.
On May 6, the tanker M/T Hasna was disabled under similar circumstances. Two days later, on May 8, both the M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda were stopped as well.
