WASHINGTON: A US Navy warplane fired on and disabled the rudder of an oil tanker that tried to break Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports, the US military said on Wednesday (May 6).
It is the second time the US military has fired on a ship it said was attempting to violate the blockade, which has been in place since April 13.
US forces warned the Iranian-flagged M/T Hasna, which was unladen, that it was in violation of the blockade, but its crew “failed to comply,” so a US F/A-18 Super Hornet “disabled the tanker’s rudder by firing several rounds from (its) 20mm cannon gun,” Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.
“Hasna is no longer transiting to Iran,” CENTCOM said, adding: “The US blockade against ships attempting to enter or depart Iranian ports remains in full effect.”
