WASHINGTON, United States: US forces on Tuesday fired a missile at a ship that was attempting to sail toward an Iranian port in violation of an American blockade, disabling the vessel, the US military said.
Washington has now forcibly halted six ships it said were attempting to violate the blockade, which has been in place since April 13.
The Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie — an unladen oil tanker — “ignored repeated warnings” over a 24-hour period, and an American warplane “ultimately disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room,” the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
The statement did not mention if the attack caused any casualties aboard the Lexie.
On Friday, the US military similarly disabled a Gambia-flagged cargo vessel after it too failed to comply, CENTCOM said.
