The Touska ignored warnings for six hours. Then the guided missile destroyer USS Spruance opened fire.
US Central Command said the Navy shot at and seized the Iranian-flagged containership in the Gulf of Oman as it tried to enter the Strait of Hormuz. It was the first significant clash since the American blockade began a week earlier, Lloyd’s List reported.
Before firing, the Navy told the crew to leave the engine room. The Spruance then put several rounds into the ship to disable it, and US Marines boarded and took control, Centcom said. The Touska is a 2008-built panamax vessel rated at 4,900 teu.
Trump: “It did not go well for them”
President Donald Trump addressed the seizure in a Truth Social post on Sunday. The ship, he wrote, “tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them.”
Washington has sanctioned the Touska since 2020, citing Iran’s weapons programme. Its beneficial owner is Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. The registered owner is Mosakhar Darya Shipping Company PJS, which IRISL ultimately controls. IRISL is state-owned and sits under US, UK and European Union sanctions, and the US State Department has called it the “preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents.”
The ship left the Chinese port of Zhuai on March 29 and reached Malaysia’s Port Klang on April 3. Earlier Washington Post investigations found that sanctioned IRISL vessels, the Touska among them, have loaded at Zhuhai. The port handles chemicals including sodium perchlorate, a key precursor for the solid rocket fuel Iran uses in its missile programme.
Tehran vows to hit back
Iran called the seizure “armed maritime piracy.” The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the country’s military command, said the US had broken the ceasefire. “We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond to this act of armed maritime piracy and retaliate soon,” it said. The headquarters also signalled tighter control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Traffic through the strait was at a standstill again over the weekend. Several shipowners with vessels nearby heard radio transmissions warning that the waterway had returned to “strict management and control by the [Iranian] armed forces.” Lloyd’s List confirmed the transmissions as authentic. At least two Indian-flagged merchant ships, including the very large crude carrier Sanmar Herald, were reportedly hit by gunfire while trying to pass through.
Iranian media also reported that parliament was working on a law to manage the strait. The reports said it would bar ships linked to Israel and require permission from the Supreme National Security Council for vessels from “hostile countries.” Iran may also be preparing a toll on ships passing through, though it was not clear whether that would go ahead.
Talks in doubt
Trump said US negotiators would travel to Pakistan on Monday to hold more talks on ending the war. Iranian state media, citing unnamed officials, said Tehran had “no plans for now to participate.”
The president paired the announcement with a threat. “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote on social media. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Sources
Sources
- US seizes Iranian boxship for breaching blockade :: Lloyd's List
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