A US official told the Wall Street Journal that US forces fired pre-dawn Tuesday
on a Panama‑flagged vessel attempting to run a US blockade of an Iranian port.
The official said a US helicopter fired at the ship’s steering compartment after
the crew ignored warnings from US personnel enforcing the blockade. There were
no reports of casualties. The official said the vessel appeared to try to
transfer crew to another civilian ship after being struck. Earlier Tuesday
maritime security firm Vanguard reported that the Panama‑flagged container ship
Vela Nova, westbound in the Gulf of Oman, was hit by a helicopter‑launched
missile about 71 nautical miles off Pakistan; the missile ignited a fire that
was later extinguished and all 17 crew were accounted for.
