“Hole blown in the engine room”
US destroyer attacks Iranian cargo ship
April 19, 2026 – 11:22 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The US Navy fired on an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. Apparently the ship wanted to bypass the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to President Donald Trump, the US Navy has attacked and taken control of an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. The ship tried to bypass the US blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump wrote on Sunday in his Truth Social online service.
The Iranian ship ignored requests to stop, and then the US guided-missile destroyer “blasted a hole in the engine room,” Trump said. The Iranian freighter “Touska” is currently under the control of the US Navy. According to Trump, the ship is subject to US sanctions “due to previous illegal activities”.
The situation around the Strait of Hormuz remains extremely tense. Iran reversed its opening of the strait on Saturday after just one day. The Iranian army leadership justified this with the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports.
The French shipping company CMA CGM said on Sunday that one of its ships had been the target of warning shots in the Strait of Hormuz the previous day. Trump had previously stated that in addition to a French ship, a British freighter had also come under attack.
A fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz. After the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began at the end of February, Tehran largely closed the strait to international shipping. The blockade has driven up prices for oil and liquid gas worldwide.
The attack on the Iranian cargo ship occurred shortly before the expiration of the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which ends on Wednesday. Trump announced on Sunday that US negotiators would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for further negotiations.
However, Iran has initially rejected a new round of negotiations with the USA. “There are currently no plans to take part in the next round of talks between Iran and the US,” state TV channel Irib reported, citing Iranian sources. A first round of negotiations brokered by Pakistan a week ago remained inconclusive.
