US forces disabled and boarded the Iranian-flagged containership Touska in the Arabian Sea as part of the blockade of Iran's ports, reports the UK's Seatrade Maritime News.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance fired a five-inch gun into the vessel's engine room after repeated warnings over six hours. AIS data showed the ship was about 40 nautical miles from Chabahar port when intercepted while transiting at 17 knots towards Bandar Abbas.

US Central Command released video of the incident, with warnings broadcast to vacate the engine room before disabling fire was opened. President Donald Trump later described the vessel as nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, saying the Navy had taken custody of the ship.

The Touska has been under US sanctions since 2020 for links to Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. It had recently called at Port Klang in Malaysia and Zhuhai in China, the latter identified in US reports as connected to Iran's missile programme.

Iran's Tasnim News Agency quoted military officials vowing retaliation. The seizure follows a weekend of escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian forces fired on a tanker and a containership was struck by a projectile, while US-sanctioned LPG carriers aborted transits amid the blockade.