Two commercial vessels have sunk near the Strait of Hormuz within a 24-hour period after being hit by projectiles, maritime officials confirmed on Wednesday — the second and third ships to go down since the US-Iran war began in February.
The losses mark a sharp escalation around one of the world’s most important energy waterways, where attacks have surged over the past ten days.
A 24-hour window of losses
The Singapore-flagged container ship GFS Pride, a 2,824-TEU vessel, sank while sailing through the strait on Tuesday, according to maritime security sources. Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority said the ship sustained damage and a fire on board before going down. All 21 crew members were safely evacuated, with no injuries reported.
In a separate incident, the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged dry bulk carrier Cape Dao sank close to the strait, weeks after it was struck by a projectile on September 23. One crew member was killed in that earlier attack and the rest were evacuated straight afterwards, according to data from the United Nations shipping agency.
What is confirmed — and what is not
Confirmed: the identities of both vessels, the September 23 strike date on Cape Dao, and the safe evacuation of the GFS Pride’s entire 21-strong crew. Iran has said publicly it is stepping up strikes in response to the United States’ blockade of Iranian ports and tougher sanctions imposed last month. Singapore’s maritime authority called the attacks “unprovoked, unjustifiable, and a breach of international law.”
Still unconfirmed are the full details of who fired each projectile and whether the vessels were deliberately targeted. The first commercial ship sunk in the war — the Maltese-flagged Safeen Prestige, struck in March — is counted in the same UN casualty data.
The sinkings follow weeks of escalating strikes across the region, including Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s airport earlier this year. Energy infrastructure has become a recurring target in this conflict, and Washington’s declared energy ceasefire in Ukraine collapsed within hours of being announced — a sign of how quickly such commitments can unravel.
For shippers, the question now is whether the strait remains a viable transit route at all, a debate running across independent industry coverage of the sinkings.
