A Singapore-flagged container ship has sunk after being struck by an unknown projectile while travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, while another vessel registered in Singapore was damaged in a separate attack, authorities said.
All 21 crew members aboard the GFS Pride were evacuated safely, with no injuries reported, after Tuesday’s attack caused damage and a fire, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority said.
Another Singapore-flagged container ship, the GFS Giselle, sustained hull damage after being hit by a projectile on Wednesday. However, the vessel managed to reach a safe anchorage with all 22 crew members accounted for.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed that a ship had struck naval mines and sank while travelling along what they described as an “unauthorised” route through the strait.
The Guards released photographs that appeared to show black smoke rising from a container ship that remained afloat but was sinking at the stern. Other images showed dozens of shipping containers and their contents floating in the water.
Pakistan’s Hydrographer warned mariners that the GFS Pride had sunk about four nautical miles (7.4km) north-west of Ras al-Sheikh Masud, off Oman’s Musandam Peninsula.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said two unnamed container ships had reported being struck by unknown projectiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz between 16:40 and 17:00 GMT on Tuesday. Both vessels sustained minor damage and were able to continue their journeys.
Commercial shipping has faced repeated attacks in the strategic waterway and elsewhere in the Middle East since the US and Israel’s war with Iran began in February.
According to the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization, at least 24 seafarers have been killed in 106 confirmed incidents. The Malta-flagged container ship Safeen Prestige, attacked near Oman on March 4, was previously reported to be the only other vessel to have sunk during the conflict.
However, maritime risk management group Vanguard said on Wednesday that the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier Cape Dao was reportedly sinking after an unsuccessful rescue attempt, Reuters reported.
One seafarer was killed when an unknown projectile struck the Cape Dao’s bridge and accommodation area as it travelled through the strait, north-east of Khasab, Oman, on September 23.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, and normally handles around a fifth of global oil and gas shipments. The waterway was effectively closed after the war began, amid Iranian missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
A preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war and reopen the strait was reached in June but collapsed within weeks, after attacks on shipping resumed and Washington reinstated its blockade.
Iran has insisted on retaining some control over the waterway and has targeted vessels using a southern route through Omani waters, which avoids its preferred passage through Iranian waters.
The US military has also been providing protection for tankers transporting oil through the strait to help Gulf Arab states maintain exports.
Despite the continuing attacks, crude oil exports through the waterway rose last month to around 80% of pre-war levels, which averaged 16 million barrels per day, according to analysts from shipping data company Kpler.
