U.S. Claims to Have Hit Chinese-Owned Freighter That Ran Blockade on Iran

For the first time in weeks, U.S. forces have used kinetic methods to disable an Iran-linked ship in the Gulf of Oman.

On Saturday, an American fighter jet struck the stern of the freighter Ocean Molica. The crew were uninjured and the vessel was fully disabled, U.S. Central Command reported. The vessel had departed an Iranian port prior to the strike and was moving through the Gulf of Oman, the command said in a statement.

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

It was the fourth merchant ship that CENTCOM has disabled in connection with the ongoing blockade of Iranian ports, which resumed in its current form on July 14. The number does not count the 10 "head-for-an-eye" retaliatory strikes that the U.S. military conducted on Iranian tankers for each Iranian attack on GCC-linked tonnage.

Historical AIS data suggests that Ocean Molica arrived in the Gulf of Oman in mid-August, and was at anchor off Fujairah for weeks, with a long gap in AIS signal reception from August through early September. She attempted to depart the Gulf of Oman at least three previous times before Saturday's attempt to head south along the Omani coast, which ended in an American interception. The departure and outbound voyage were not detected by commercial AIS services, and the vessel appears to have reached the Arabian Sea coast of Oman, east of the remote town of Sharkh. Ocean Molica's AIS transmission resumed reception on Saturday and continued through Sunday, when it indicated that it was drifting slowly to the northeast with the prevailing wind.

Ocean Molica (registered as Akira Sun, IMO 9139270) is a 70,000 dwt bulker built in 1996. It is owned and operated out of Hong Kong, and has a long history of inspection deficiencies recorded in Chinese ports. Since current ownership took over the ship's control in mid-2023, the vessel has almost exclusively traded between China and the Mideast.