US Strikes Vessel in Eastern Pacific: Multiple Dead, Rescue Underway

Deadly Encounter on the High Seas

At 03:14 local time, the destroyer USS Shoup opened fire on a suspicious vessel that ignored repeated hails and closed within 200 meters of the warship, Navy officials told reporters. The engagement, which took place roughly 800 nautical miles west of Ecuador, left at least four people dead and triggered an urgent search-and-rescue operation now stretching across 600 square miles of open ocean.

What We Know So Far

• The targeted craft was a 35-foot panga-style boat with no visible flag or registration numbers.
• After radio warnings and warning shots went unheeded, the Shoup engaged with a single 25-mm chain-gun burst.
• Ecuador’s navy has recovered two bodies; the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Forrest Rednour is scouring the area for six still-missing crew.
• Pentagon sources say preliminary radar logs suggest the boat had been shadowing commercial tankers for two days.

A Region on Edge

The Eastern Pacific has become a super-highway for narcotics smugglers; last year the U.S. seized a record 220 tons of cocaine in these same waters. While officials stopped short of labeling the stricken vessel a drug runner, Rear Adm. Jamie Miller hinted at “indications of illicit cargo.”

“We don’t fire lightly,” Miller said. “But when a boat accelerates toward a U.S. warship at 02:00, we must assume hostile intent.”

What Happens Next

A joint investigative team—combining the Navy, Coast Guard and Ecuadorian marines—has begun piecing together debris lifted from the waves. If narcotics are confirmed, the incident could mark a grim escalation in the cat-and-mouse game between traffickers and the U.S. fleet. Meanwhile, families of the missing wait on the docks of Manta, hoping the Pacific gives back what it took before nightfall.