What happened

US Central Command said that as of 12 August it had redirected 59 commercial vessels, disabled 3 and boarded 2 while enforcing the resumed US blockade against Iran. The redirected count has climbed steadily since the blockade resumed on 14 July (12 by 25 July, 20 by 29 July, 24 by 30 July, 35 by 2 August, 44 by 4 August, 45 by 5 August, 49 by 6 August, 55 by 11 August and 59 by 12 August). The disabled count rose from two to three when a US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles at the Panama-flagged cargo ship M/V Vela Nova in the Gulf of Oman; the boarded count remained two. CENTCOM has repeatedly said the Strait of Hormuz remains open for commercial transit while enforcing restrictions on traffic to Iranian ports. This tally belongs to the phase CENTCOM said resumed on 14 July and is not combined with the larger totals it reported during the earlier April–June phase. It is represented by one approximate regional marker because CENTCOM did not identify every vessel or publish a location for each action. CENTCOM's characterization of vessels as blockade violators is attributed to the US government; the statement did not establish that all vessels were tankers or disclose every cargo, crew condition, damage detail, environmental effect or the legal basis of each individual action.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.