Overview
- NOTUS reported that roughly six U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadets were on two U.S.-flagged ships in the Persian Gulf when the U.S. began bombing Iran on Feb. 28.
- Sources said the Pentagon gave no advance notice to the ships, the academy, or the Transportation Department, even though these vessels are enrolled in military sealift programs that usually get warnings.
- With no way to transit the Strait of Hormuz, crews sheltered in friendly ports and kept the cadets aboard for weeks, and evacuations occurred about a month later with returns still unclear.
- An American-flagged tanker, the Crowley-linked Stena Imperative, was struck by an Iranian projectile in the early days of the war, raising fears that the five designated security-program ships could be targeted.
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal urged U.S. Central Command to protect U.S.-flag and U.S.-crewed ships and faulted the Trump administration for the lack of warning, while the academy refused to discuss cadet locations for security reasons.