A US warplane hit the stern of the Panama-flagged cargo ship Ocean Molica in the Gulf of Oman, leaving it unable to move under its own power, US Central Command said; the crew was reported unharmed. Washington says the vessel had left Iran in defiance of a US blockade on Iranian shipping in force since 14 July, though the claim is nearly impossible to verify because the ship had switched off its tracking beacon and its owner could not be reached. The incident underscores the contest between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz (the narrow waterway through which about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the conflict), whose disruption has pushed global energy prices to record highs.