Crew aboard a Panamanian‑flagged cargo ship say they watched in shock as a volley of US Tomahawk cruise missiles tore past their bow at low altitude in the Gulf of Oman, streaking north toward targets inside Iran as the latest phase of Operation “Epic Fury” roared to life.

Phone video shot from the bridge shows glowing exhaust trails skimming just above the waves, the missiles weaving around invisible waypoints as stunned sailors shout and dive for cover. “For a few seconds, we thought we were the target,” one crew member can be heard yelling over the howl of the engines.

Shipping trackers and defence sources say the missiles were launched from a US Navy destroyer operating in international waters, part of a coordinated strike package aimed at Iranian radar sites, drone hubs and coastal air‑defence batteries along the Strait of Hormuz approaches. Within minutes, social media across Oman and Pakistan lit up with reports of “fireballs racing over the sea.”

US Central Command insists strict safety corridors were plotted to avoid commercial lanes, calling the near‑pass with the cargo vessel “uncomfortably close, but never unsafe.” Iranian state media, however, seizes on the footage as proof that Washington is turning vital trade routes into a “floating firing range,” endangering neutral shipping and global energy supplies.

In insurance markets from London to Singapore, the impact is immediate: war‑risk premiums for tankers and container ships transiting near Oman spike yet again, with some operators ordering last‑minute course changes to skirt the emerging combat zone.

For millions watching the viral clip of Tomahawks screaming past a helpless freighter, a chilling question lingers: if even routine cargo runs now share the sky with live cruise missiles, how long before a miscalculation at sea turns this shadow war into a full‑blown shipping catastrophe?