Two Ships Sink Near Strait of Hormuz After Projectile Attacks as Iran Steps Up Strikes on Shipping

 

Two commercial vessels have sunk near the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours after being hit by projectiles in separate incidents, maritime officials said on Wednesday, in the sharpest escalation of attacks on shipping since the US-Iran war began in February.

Main News Report

The Singapore-flagged container ship GFS Pride was struck by an unknown projectile on Tuesday while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, maritime officials said. The vessel suffered damage and a fire on board before sinking on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

• GFS Pride: The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) confirmed on Wednesday that the container vessel, which has a capacity of 2,824 TEU, "sustained damage and a fire on board, and has since sunk". All 21 crew members were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported.
• GFS Giselle: A second Singapore-registered container vessel was struck by a projectile on Wednesday while transiting the strait, sustaining hull damage but reaching a safe anchorage under its own propulsion. All 22 crew members were reported safe.
• Cape Dao: The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged dry bulk carrier sank near the strait weeks after being hit by a projectile on 23 September, data from the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) showed on Wednesday. One crew member was killed in that earlier strike and the rest were evacuated.

The two sinkings are only the second and third commercial vessels to have gone down since the US-Iran war began on 28 February, according to an analysis of IMO casualty data cited by Reuters — marking the first such losses in months. Iran's state media, Press TV, claimed the GFS Pride had hit a sea mine on an "unauthorised route", but maritime security experts told CNN a drone or projectile attack was more likely.

Background Context

The United States and Iran have been at war since 28 February, when the US and Israel struck Iran and Tehran responded with attacks on Israel and Gulf states hosting American bases. Since then, Iran has sought to tighten its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade before the war, in an effort to gain leverage over Washington, Reuters reports. Attacks around the waterway have surged over the past 10 days, with Iran saying it is stepping up strikes in response to the US naval blockade of its ports and tougher sanctions introduced last month. Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters this week that Iran is deploying new tactics against ships in the strait, with one goal being to keep oil prices high and influence the US midterm elections. The officials said the strategy was decided at the highest levels of Iran's leadership and coordinated across the country's ruling system. Shipping through the strait has been severely curtailed: traffic averaged just 25 to 40 sailings a day in the past week, far below the pre-war average of 125, according to ship tracking data. War-risk insurance and freight rates have climbed to record highs.

Reactions and Statements

Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority said it was "deeply concerned about the continued attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz", adding: "Such attacks are unprovoked, unjustifiable, and a breach of international law." The International Monetary Fund warned on Thursday that a long war in the Middle East, and further disruption to energy production, shipping routes or critical infrastructure, posed the biggest risk to economies in the Middle East and Central Asia, Reuters reported. The head of the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development, Alvaro Lario, told Reuters the Hormuz shipping disruption is already becoming visible in agricultural harvests, threatening to lower farm yields and push up food prices. He said agricultural commodity prices rose 13 per cent in the third quarter, with further increases expected. Markets felt the strain: Gulf stocks fell on Thursday after Yemen's Houthis pledged to keep attacking airports and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, a day after a Houthi strike caused extensive damage to Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran. Brent crude futures fell 2.2 per cent to $103.78 a barrel on Thursday as investors weighed supply risks against US efforts to cut petroleum shipping costs by easing sanctions on shadow-fleet vessels, Reuters reported.

Why This News Matters

For Pakistan, the sinking of merchant ships in the Gulf's most critical waterway carries direct risks. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb acknowledged earlier this week that Pakistan is highly vulnerable to a prolonged Middle East conflict given its dependence on Gulf energy imports, remittances and financing support from the region. With petrol prices in Pakistan just revised from 16 October, any renewed spike in global oil prices would feed straight through to domestic fuel and transport costs. Globally, the losses mark a dangerous tactical shift: Iran is now willing to sink commercial vessels, not merely harass them. Higher war-risk premiums, dearer freight and disrupted fertiliser shipments — already squeezing harvests, according to the UN — will push up food prices for import-dependent countries across South Asia and the Gulf.

Future Developments

Whether the sinkings prompt a US military response or further escalation around the strait will shape the coming weeks. The US military continues to enforce its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and President Donald Trump has warned Washington will either reach a deal with Iran or "finish the job". Analysts will be watching three things: whether Iran expands its targeting to escorted oil convoys, whether war-risk insurance and freight rates spike further after the first sinkings in months, and whether oil prices — now hovering above $100 a barrel — climb again as the 3 November US midterm elections approach. Any further disruption to the strait would put fresh pressure on fuel prices in Pakistan and across Asia.

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