A container ship sank in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday as Iran stepped up attacks on commercial shipping.
The GFS Pride, registered in Singapore, sank after being hit by an unidentified projectile and caught fire. The ship’s 21 crew members were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
“Such attacks are unprovoked, unjustifiable and a violation of international law,” Singapore’s maritime authority said in a statement on Wednesday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday morning that a container ship exploded and sank after hitting a naval mine, according to the official Tasnim news agency. But there is no independent evidence to confirm that a mine was responsible for the sinking of the Pride, according to maritime security company Maririsks.
Iran’s claims are “consistent with an ongoing psychological operations campaign aimed at generating fear, increasing uncertainty and discouraging commercial shipping” in Hormuz, Maririsks said in a security alert.
Iran has stepped up strikes on commercial ships transiting Hormuz in recent weeks, as it attempts to stifle the resumption of crude oil exports through the strait.
More than 20 ships, mostly oil tankers, have been attacked this month in Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, according to incident reports from the UK’s Maritime Commercial Operations Centre.
Attacks this month left two sailors missing and 12 injured, according to the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency.
Crude oil exports through Hormuz reached pre-war levels in September as the U.S. military guided tankers through the strait, but shipments have since declined as attacks have increased.
Crude exports through Hormuz averaged 8.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the week ended October 12, nearly 40% below normal levels before the Iran war, according to Kpler data.
Shipments from the entire region, including pipelines to the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea, stood at 14 million bpd, almost 20% lower than pre-war, the data showed.
Daily flows are volatile, with only 3 million barrels of crude passing through Hormuz on Monday while 6 million barrels passed through the strait on Friday, according to Kpler.
Gn headline
