A Singapore-flagged container ship has sunk near the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by a projectile, maritime security sources said on Wednesday.
The GFS Pride, a small container vessel with capacity for 2,824 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), sank while sailing through the strait, sources told Reuters. Tehran said the boat had hit a naval mine.
All 21 crew members were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) following the incident, which comes after attacks around the waterway surged over the past 10 days.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy previously said the vessel, carrying more than 2,500 containers, attempted to transit an “unauthorised and dangerous” route, before catching fire after hitting the naval mine.
"MPA is deeply concerned about the continued attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the Singapore authority said. "Such attacks are unprovoked, unjustifiable, and a breach of international law."
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) received a report of an incident where a container ship was struck by an unknown projectile - although it is currently unclear whether the two incidents are linked.
In a statement, Iran’s Guards have warned local vessels and fishermen to take care.
The vessel's United Arab Emirates-based manager GFS Ship Management FZE could not be immediately reached for comment.
The loss of the GFS Pride marks the second vessel to sink since the US-Iran war began on February 28, according to data from UN shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization.
In a separate incident, the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Cape Dao was reported to be sinking close to the strait after being struck by a projectile on September 23, the sources added.
"The Antigua & Barbuda flagged bulk carrier CAPE DAO, originally hit on the 23 September, is reported to be sinking after an unsuccessful rescue attempt," British maritime risk management group Vanguard said in a note on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that three fishermen were injured after a fishing boat was struck in an incident involving an unidentified drone near Sirik in southern Iran's Hormozgan province.
It was described as an attack by a US drone, although Iranian authorities have not officially confirmed the circumstances of the incident or who was responsible.
Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz
Before the war on Iran, around 125 to 140 large commercial vessels including oil tankers, gas carriers, bunkers and container ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz every day. This came to an effective standstill on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched coordinated military airstrikes across Iran.
While traffic on the 24-mile Strait appeared to be increasing over recent months, two senior Iranian officials say that Iran is deploying new tactics to target ships sailing through the passage as it seeks to keep oil prices high and influence the US midterm elections.
“The aim is to frustrate efforts by the United States and its allies to bring down global oil prices,” one of the two officials said.
But the US military’s Central Command rejects suggestions that Iran is controlling the strait, saying in a post on X on Tuesday: “IRGC's navy commander has no navy. American forces and regional partners clearly control the Strait of Hormuz. Just yesterday U.S. forces assisted Gulf partners in shipping more than 19 million barrels of crude oil through the strait.”
As part of the new strategy, Tehran will expand the geographical scope of its operations beyond the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman and waters further afield, the officials said.
Analysis by maritime security sources based on attacks reported to UKMTO and maritime security companies in the region suggest this may already be happening. They show Iran targeting ships in areas beyond the Strait of Hormuz, including waters off the coast of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, in recent days.
The second Iranian official added that Tehran would not allow Trump to bring down oil prices before the November elections.
“Just when they think they are getting close to the point where prices will fall, we will push them away from it. This is a game of chess,” the second official said. “Such vessels would be safe nowhere, even outside the Strait of Hormuz.”
Trump, meanwhile, has continued his threats against Iran, warning Washington will decide its next move “very soon” and describing it as a “failed country” in comments outside the White House on Tuesday.
“They have no economy… they have no money,” he said. “We’ll make a decision on Iran very soon.”
He later said at a campaign rally: “Wait till you see what we do to Iran. We’re going to do a number… wait till you see what we do to Iran, because we’ve sort of had it. The big thing is, they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. That’s buried under thousands of tonnes of rock.”
