A US Navy helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of a Panama-flagged cargo ship on Tuesday, disabling it after its crew repeatedly ignored warnings to turn back from Iranian waters. The vessel, the M/V Vela Nova, was struck approximately 71 nautical miles off the coast of Pakistan while sailing westbound through the Gulf of Oman toward an Iranian port. US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the strike, stating that the ship "is no longer transiting to Iran in violation of the US blockade." Maritime security firm Vanguard reported that the impact briefly started a fire that was later extinguished, and that all 17 crew members were safe; a senior US official said the crew was subsequently transferred to another vessel.
The Vela Nova is registered under Panama's open registry — a common international arrangement that carries no implication of Panamanian ownership or state involvement. Shipping records list Golden Valley Marine INV as the registered owner, with Sino Hellenic Ships Management as technical manager. Analysts noted the vessel had recently called at Mumbai and Port Klang, Malaysia, ports also frequented by Iran-linked shipping. Tuesday's strike was the third time US forces have forcibly halted a vessel since reimposing the blockade on 14 July, and the third overall disabled ship in a campaign that began in April. CENTCOM said it has now redirected 55 commercial vessels, disabled three, and boarded two.
The broader context is a volatile, months-long conflict. The United States imposed its naval blockade of Iranian ports following what it described as failed efforts to end a war that began on 28 February, involving Iran and Israel. Iran retaliated by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states across the Gulf region and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas previously flowed. Shipping data showed the tally of vessels transiting the strait fell to a one-week low of eight on Tuesday, well below the recent 10-day average of around 12. Tehran has said the strait will remain closed unless Washington accepts its conditions, and the latest ceasefire agreement collapsed in June.
Tuesday also saw deadly violence in the Red Sea. Yemen's coastguard reported that Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck the Tanzania-flagged cargo ship Tihamah near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the narrow passage connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden — killing four sailors and two rescue workers who had been deployed to evacuate the stricken vessel. Among the dead were three Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian national. The Houthis, who last month declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, separately claimed to have struck a Saudi vessel carrying military equipment. Iran has not publicly commented on any of Tuesday's developments. US President Donald Trump, speaking in an interview released Monday, described his options regarding Iran as allowing the country's economy to fail or escalating military action significantly.