M/V Lian Star
Gambian-flagged bulk carrier disabled by a CENTCOM Hellfire missile in the Gulf of Oman on 30 May 2026 after ignoring 20+ blockade warnings.
Last refreshed: 31 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did the US military fire a missile at a civilian cargo ship?
Timeline for M/V Lian Star
Hellfire disables a cargo ship's engine
Iran Conflict 2026- What happened to the M/V Lian Star?
- CENTCOM fired a Hellfire missile into its engine room in the Gulf of Oman on 29-30 May 2026 after the crew ignored over 20 blockade warnings. The ship was disabled but not seized; the crew remained aboard the powerless vessel.
- Why did the US fire a missile at the Lian Star?
- The Gambian-flagged bulk carrier repeatedly ignored US naval blockade warnings during the Hormuz operation. After more than 20 warnings, CENTCOM used a Hellfire missile to disable its propulsion rather than attempt a boarding.
- Is the Lian Star the first ship disabled by a US missile in the Iran blockade?
- Yes. The Lian Star was the first commercial hull to have its propulsion destroyed by munition during the blockade. Previous enforcement used boarding parties or redirections, not kinetic strikes on propulsion systems.
- Where was the Lian Star when it was hit?
- The vessel was in the Gulf of Oman when CENTCOM struck its engine room on approximately 29-30 May 2026.
Background
The M/V Lian Star became the most dramatic escalation in the US naval blockade of Iranian oil exports when CENTCOM fired a Hellfire missile into its engine room on approximately 29-30 May 2026, disabling the vessel in the Gulf of Oman. The crew had ignored more than 20 blockade warnings before the strike. The ship was disabled but not seized; its civilian crew remained aboard a powerless hull. CENTCOM's cumulative vessel redirection count reached 116 with the Lian Star incident.
The Lian Star is a bulk carrier sailing under a Gambian flag of convenience, a common practice that obscures the vessel's beneficial ownership and trading routes. Gambia is a signatory to international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, though Gambian-flagged vessels have repeatedly appeared in the Iran-linked shadow fleet attempting to circumvent sanctions.
The strike marked the first time the Hormuz blockade destroyed a commercial vessel's propulsion by munition rather than by boarding or redirecting. The incident sharply raised the legal and diplomatic stakes of the naval operation, setting a precedent for kinetic enforcement against non-compliant commercial hulls and drawing international scrutiny over the rules of engagement applied to civilian shipping.
