CENTCOM Disables Cargo Ship Ocean Molica in the Gulf of Oman as the Resumed Iran Blockade Turns Back 135 Ships in Three Months

On 10 October a US fighter jet hit the stern of the Panama-flagged cargo ship Ocean Molica, also known as Arika Sun, with a precision munition in the Gulf of Oman. Central Command says the strike knocked out the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew. The vessel had left an Iranian port, and its crew had ignored repeated warnings to turn back.

It’s the fourth commercial ship US forces have disabled since the blockade of Iranian ports resumed on 14 July. CENTCOM’s count for those three months: 135 ships turned around and 10 tankers destroyed that it links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ shadow shipping network.

U.S. Forces Disable Cargo Vessel Attempting to Violate Blockade

TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman, Oct. 10, after the ship’s crew ignored repeated warnings and attempted to run the ongoing naval blockade against Iran.

A U.S. military fighter jet struck the stern of Panama-flagged M/V Ocean Molica (also known as the “Arika Sun”) with a precision munition, fully disabling the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew. The large cargo vessel was attempting to transit regional waters after having previously departed an Iranian port.

CENTCOM forces resumed America’s blockade against all ships entering or departing Iranian ports on July 14. Four commercial vessels have been disabled and 135 ships have been turned around during three months of strict enforcement. Additionally, U.S. forces have destroyed 10 tankers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' multibillion-dollar shadow network over the same period.

All mariners are advised to heed blockade warnings from CENTCOM forces. Crews should also continue to monitor Notice to Mariners broadcasts and contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches.

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) October 11, 2026

Two blockades, one policy

The blockade has run twice. The first began on 13 April, after talks in Islamabad failed, and covered the whole Iranian coastline. By 11 June CENTCOM had disabled nine vessels, redirected 135 and let 42 humanitarian ships through. It was lifted on 18 June, the day after the President and Iran’s President Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war.

The memorandum didn’t hold. Washington and Tehran read its clause on safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz differently: Iran claimed the right to approve routes, the US told ships to use a southern route along Oman’s coast. Iran attacked tankers that didn’t follow its rules. On 13 July the President announced a 20% charge on cargo in exchange for US protection, then dropped it the next day. The blockade came back at 4 pm Eastern on 14 July, and the first disabling strike, on the Curaçao-flagged tanker Belma bound for Kharg Island, followed within a day.

The second phase has gone further. CENTCOM now reports ten tankers destroyed outright. And the Ocean Molica is a cargo ship, which shows the blockade covers all trade with Iranian ports, oil or not.

Who authorised it

Congress hasn’t. The administration told lawmakers on 1 May that hostilities with Iran had “terminated”, which let it argue the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day clock no longer applied, even with the blockade in force. Senate Democrats wrote in June asking for the legal basis of that claim. Iran’s foreign minister has called the blockade an act of war.

Congress has voted on the war many times without changing it. The House and Senate passed a concurrent resolution in June that has no binding effect, and the Senate’s latest attempt failed 49 to 50 on 24 September. The details are in our Iran war costs post, which also covers the bill: $43.6 billion by the Pentagon’s count as of 3 September, most of it for munitions Congress hasn’t paid to replace.

What it costs at sea

Shipping through the strait collapsed long before this strike. On 9 July 22 ships crossed, against 147 the day before the war began. CENTCOM’s notice to mariners asks crews in the Gulf of Oman and the Hormuz approaches to call US warships on channel 16 and heed blockade warnings.

For Washington the blockade is a lever that needs no vote in Congress. It uses ships and aircraft already in the region, about 20,000 troops and at least three carrier strike groups. Each disabled ship is also a reminder of what the President said on 8 October: no attack on Iran before the 3 November midterms. The blockade isn’t an attack in the administration’s reading. Tehran reads it the other way.