The American fighter jet used a burst of 20mm cannon fire to damage the vessel’s rudder in international waters.
The US Navy has disabled an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in international waters as part of the ongoing US blockade of Iran’s ports.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the action on 6 May, saying a Boeing F/A-18E/F was dispatched from the Gulf of Oman to intercept the M/T Hasna after the ship was observed steaming toward an unidentified Iranian port.
The carrier-capable Super Hornet was launched from the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is operating in the Gulf of Oman, according to the USNI News fleet tracker. A second carrier strike group is also in region with the USS George HW Bush.
CENTCOM says the F/A-18 disabled the Hasna by firing a burst of 20mm cannon fire through the tanker’s rudder after vessel’s crew “failed to comply with repeated warnings”. The ship was not carrying any oil at the time of engagement, according to Washington.
“Hasna is no longer transiting to Iran,” the Pentagon’s Middle East headquarters says. “The US blockade against ships attempting to enter or depart Iranian ports remains in full effect.”
Washington declared a blockade of Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman on 13 April. The move was a response to Tehran’s closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which was itself initiated in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign launched on 28 February.
Hostilities are currently on hold while Tehran and Washington engage in diplomatic talks to find a permanent resolution to the war.
That temporary ceasefire has not stopped both sides from engaging in limited military operations under their respective blockades. Iran has attacked targets in the UAE and ships in the Strait of Hormuz, while the US has intercepted or seized multiple Iranian commercial vessels.
US Marines conducted a helicopter-borne air assault onto an Iranian container ship on 20 April.
Open-source ship tracking puts the Hasna‘s last recorded position as just south of Sri Lanka on 17 April, heading toward the Middle East. The vessel last made port in Singapore in January, according to VesselFinder.
Some ships operating in the around the Persian Gulf since the start of the war have been turning off their AIS transponder systems (the maritime equivalent of ADS-B for aircraft) in an attempt to avoid detection and targeting by belligerents on either side.
Iranian oil has been under US sanctions for years, and the country has long operated a fleet of “shadow tankers” sailing without transponders or under false flags to evade the export restrictions.
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