Chaos as US helicopter opens fire on ship 'breaking blockade in Iran'

A US military helicopter opened fire on a ship allegedly breaking the blockade near Iran on Tuesday. The Panama-flagged vessel reportedly ignored warnings from US forces as it attempted to breach the blockade of an Iranian port.

The helicopter then fired at the ship's rudder in the Gulf of Oman, sparking a fire on board which was later extinguished. Reports said all 17 crew members were safe and there were no casualties. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of an incident involving a container ship and military forces in the Gulf of Oman. Maritime security sources said the vessel was believed to have been struck by a missile off the coast of Pakistan. Initial assessments identified the ship as the Panama-flagged Vela Nova, which was sailing around 71 nautical miles off Pakistan's coast when it was reportedly hit, according to British maritime risk management group Vanguard and a separate maritime security source.

UKMTO initially described the vessel as a tanker before updating its advisory to identify it as a container ship. It did not identify the military forces involved, with authorities investigating the incident.

Seatrade Maritime News reported that AIS tracking data from Pole Star Global placed the Vela Nova in approximately the same location as the vessel cited by UKMTO and showed it as "not under command".

The Vela Nova is registered to Golden Valley Marine Investment in Liberia and operated by Doris Shipping & Trading in Turkey.

Seatrade reported that none of its currently listed owner, operator or manager appears on sanctions lists.

Charlie Brown, senior adviser to United Against a Nuclear Iran, told the publication that the Vela Nova had recently called at Mumbai alongside vessels linked to Iran.

He said the ship had been alongside the Zyra and Enzo 2, which he said were subsequently associated with Port Klang.

Brown claimed the Zyra had switched from the Iranian flag to what he described as a "false Comoros flag", raising questions over whether reflagging was being used to obscure Iranian connections.

Brown said the reported disabling of the Vela Nova near the blockade line highlighted heightened scrutiny of shipping with potential links to Tehran.

US Central Command has not publicly confirmed that American forces carried out the reported interdiction.

UKMTO has advised vessels to consider the latest maritime security information and maintain awareness of the evolving situation.