Soldiers of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded the M/T Celestial Sea tanker as the ship moved over the Gulf of Oman, likely heading towards an Iranian port. According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), US forces searched and forced the ship to change direction to comply with the blockade order.
US forces continue to fully implement the blockade order and have now redirected 91 commercial ships to ensure compliance," CENTCOM added.
The US military has also neutralized 4 ships since the US Navy's blockade began on April 12.
On May 8, an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet of the US Navy from the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier launched "precision weapons" aimed at the chimneys of 2 non-cargo tankers flying Iranian flags when these 2 ships were moving towards an Iranian port, violating the US Navy's blockade order.
Also that week, the US military destroyed 6 Iranian small boats deployed by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) towards US Navy ships escorting ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
On May 6, an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter of the US Navy from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln opened fire on the Iranian-flagged unloaded oil tanker M/T Hasna in the Strait of Hormuz when this ship tried to evade the blockade order despite receiving many warnings from the US Navy.
Also related to the regional situation, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on May 20 that it had coordinated with 26 ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz within the previous 24 hours.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is being carried out with the permission and coordination of the IRGC navy" - Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency quoted IRGC's statement.
Also on May 20, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority of Iran (PGSA) announced a new map of the Hormuz Strait on social network X, which marks the controlled maritime area that ships will not be able to pass through without this agency's permission.
According to PGSA, the control area stretches from Iran's Kuh-e Mubarak to the southern Fujairah area in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the eastern gateway of the strait, and from the Cape of Qeshm to Umm al-Quwain at the western gateway.
