US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Sunday published footage of the seizing of an Iranian ship which attempted to violate the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
“US forces operating in the Arabian Sea enforced naval blockade measures against an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel attempting to sail toward an Iranian port, April 19," said CENTCOM in a statement.
It added that guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted the ship, M/V Touska, as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran.
“American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the US blockade," said CENTCOM.
It further noted that “after Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. US Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in US custody."
“American forces acted in a deliberate, professional, and proportional manner to ensure compliance. Since the blockade’s commencement, US forces have directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port."
US President Donald Trump confirmed earlier on Sunday that US forces had struck and detained a US-sanctioned Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that attempted to breach the naval blockade of Iran.
"Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them," the President wrote on Truth Social.
The US naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz officially began last Monday. Trump announced the blockade after delegations from Iran and the United States held extended negotiations in Islamabad last weekend but failed to produce an agreement.