US Navy fires upon and boards Iranian container ship Touska

AIS data appears to show the vessel was around 40 nautical miles from Iran's Chabahar port at the time of the incident.  US Central Command posted a video on twitter showing Touska viewed from the deck of a US Navy ship. The Naval vessels horn is heard alongside the warning “Motor vessel Toulska, motor vessel Toulska, vacate your engine room, vacate your engine room. We are prepared to subject you to disabling fire.”

In the accompanying post, Central Command said guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted Toulska as it transited the Arabian Sea at 17 knots towards Bandar Abbas. The ship was fired upon after repeated warnings over a six-hour period, it said, and the shots were fired from a five-inch gun into Touska’s engine room. 

 “American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the US blockade,” said Centcom.

In a post on Truth Social, US president Donald Trump characterised the container ship as nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier. “Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom,” said Trump. “We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!” the post said. 

Touska has been sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) since 2020 for links to Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.  The Touska had previously called at Port Klang in Malaysia on 11 April and Zhuhai in China on 29/30 March according to data from Pole Star Global. The port of Zhuhai also known Gaolan was identified in a recent Washington Post article as having links to Iran's ballistic missile programme. 

Tasmin News Agency quoted a spokesman for Iran's military headquarters that the Islamic Republic would soon respond and retaliate against the action by the US military.

The incident is the latest in a busy weekend in the Middle East as the US and Iran tussle over control of the Strait of Hormuz. The US declared the Strait open on 17 April, shortly followed by Iranian forces firing upon at tanker and a container ship being hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz. By 18 April, Iran appeared to be enforcing a complete blockade of the Strait after two US-sanctioned LPG carriers performed a U-turn midway through transiting the Strait.