Two commercial ships sank near the Strait of Hormuz within roughly a day of each other, as repeated attacks heighten danger along a vital global shipping route.
The Singapore-registered container ship GFS Pride was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the strait on Tuesday, October 13, and later caught fire and sank, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority said. All 21 crew members escaped safely, and no injuries were reported. The other vessel, the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier Cape Dao, sank near the strait weeks after it was struck on September 23.
One crew member died in that earlier attack; the rest of the crew were evacuated. The cause of the strike on GFS Pride has not been independently established: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said a ship sank after hitting a naval mine, while Singapore’s authority reported damage from an unknown projectile. The two sinkings bring the number of vessels lost since the US-Iran war began in February to three, according to an analysis of UN shipping-agency data.
The strait carried about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade before the war, making the growing threat to commercial shipping a concern for seafarers and energy markets.