US Disables Tanker; Indian Crew Safe After Fire Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. June 8, 2026 U.S. Sailors carry chocks and chains on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), May 24, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo) U.S. forces disabled an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday after it attempted to sail to an Iranian port in violation of the ongoing blockade against Iran, the U.S. military said. U.S. Central Command said in a post on X that the M/T Marivex, a Palau-flagged vessel, was transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman toward Iran when it was targeted. An F/A-18 Super Hornet from the USS Abraham Lincoln fired a precision munition into the ship's engineering and steering spaces after the crew failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces, CENTCOM said. "Marivex is no longer sailing to Iran," it said. The tanker had 24 Indian crew members on board, India's shipping ministry said, adding that a fire had been reported on the vessel but that all were safe. "We are coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs, our Indian missions abroad, the Indian Navy, and the Ministry of Defence to ensure their safety," Opesh Kumar Sharma, a director in the federal port and shipping ministry, told a press conference. He had earlier identified the vessel as registered in Madagascar. The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports began in April after Iran severely curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a major global oil and gas route. CENTCOM has said the restrictions apply to vessels going to or from Iran, not ships transiting the strait to non-Iranian destinations. Marivex has been previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, an Indian source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. OFAC, which enforces U.S. sanctions, has since February 2025 imposed sanctions on about 1,000 Iran-related individuals, vessels and aircraft as part of a campaign to exert maximum economic pressure ag