US Fighter Jet Disables Tanker Breaking Navy Blockade at Hormuz
US naval forces disabled the Palau-flagged oil tanker Marivex with a precision strike as it attempted to breach the American blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman on Monday.
The Palau-flagged oil vessel M/T Marivex was struck by a precision munition fired from an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet as it attempted to enter Iranian territorial waters, as New York Post reports. The aircraft was deployed from the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group.
US Central Command confirmed the strike on social media platform X, stating the precision weapon targeted the tanker’s engineering and steering compartments after the vessel’s crew ignored repeated instructions from American forces to halt its approach.
Marivex is no longer sailing to Iran, CENTCOM declared in its statement.
The incident represents the latest enforcement action by US naval assets maintaining a maritime blockade designed to prevent commercial shipping from reaching Iranian ports. The Gulf of Oman serves as a critical chokepoint for vessels attempting to access Iranian waters from international shipping lanes.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier designated CVN 72, has been stationed in the region as part of ongoing American military operations aimed at isolating the Iranian regime economically and strategically.
By disabling the tanker’s propulsion and navigation systems rather than sinking the vessel outright, US forces demonstrated measured use of force while achieving their objective of preventing the ship from completing its journey to Iran.
With information from New York Post
