Top US general says crew of seized merchant vessels still in American custody

The crews of all three merchant vessels seized by the US military over the past week are still in US custody, Gen. Dan Caine says at a briefing.

“We will continue to conduct similar maritime interdiction actions and activities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans against Iranian ships and vessels of the Dark Fleet,” Caine says.

Caine also says the crew of the Tousca, the first merchant ship seized by US forces Sunday, “repeatedly ignored US warnings” over a six-hour period. Caine says this behavior prompted the crew of the Navy destroyer following the ship to fire five warning shots.

“The vessel and her crew continued to ignore warnings and, after exhausting all other measures, CENTCOM authorized disabling fire against the Tousca,” Caine says. Then, according to Caine, the destroyer disabled the ship’s engine by firing nine inert rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch guns “precisely into the engine room and engine space on board the Tousca.”

“Not surprisingly, the vessel then reported issues with their engine, went dead in the water and began to comply with US directions,” Caine adds.