US President Donald Trump said Sunday that American naval forces intercepted and disabled an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that attempted to breach a US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman, with Marines now holding the vessel in custody.
The USS Spruance, a guided missile destroyer, intercepted the TOUSKA after its crew refused repeated warnings to stop.
"Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
He said the TOUSKA is under US Treasury sanctions due to prior "illegal" activity and that American forces were inspecting the vessel's cargo.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the incident, saying the Spruance intercepted the vessel as it transited the northern Arabian Sea at 17 knots, bound for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
It said that after the crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, the Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room before firing several rounds from its 5-inch MK 45 gun to disable the ship's propulsion.
US Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit subsequently boarded the vessel, it added.
Since the naval blockade of Iranian ports began, US forces have directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port, CENTCOM added.
Ship tracking data shows the TOUSKA departed Port Klang in Malaysia on April 12.
Iran has not yet commented on the incident.
The interception comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted since a US-Israeli offensive on Iran began on Feb. 28.
The US formally announced the naval blockade on April 13.
