Singapore-Flagged GFS Pride Sinks Near Hormuz After Oct. 13 Strike. Iran Claims a Mine, Singapore Cites a Projectile

Since Iran-linked attacks on Gulf shipping escalated in late September, the damage has moved from hits to losses. The Singapore-flagged container ship GFS Pride has sunk near the Strait of Hormuz, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore confirmed on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The authority said a projectile strike caused damage and a fire aboard. All 21 crew were evacuated safely.

According to data from the International Maritime Organization, the GFS Pride is the second vessel to sink since the U.S.-Iran war began Feb. 28. Its UAE-based manager, GFS Ship Management FZE, could not be reached for comment.

Two accounts of how it went down

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy tells a different story. It said the ship, carrying about 2,500 containers, tried to transit an "unauthorised and dangerous" route, struck a naval mine, caught fire and sank south of the strait. Sepah News carried the statement, and the IRGC published footage. It also warned local vessels and fishermen to take care.

The Singapore authority's finding of a projectile strike conflicts with that. So does the timeline. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warned of strikes by unknown projectiles on Oct. 13 against a tanker and three container ships. The British risk firm Vanguard Tech identified the container ships as GFS Pride, GFS Giselle and Al Saadiyat, and the tanker as Alfonso.

Whether the IRGC's mine claim and the UKMTO-reported strike describe the same event is not settled. The Hydrographer of Pakistan issued a navigational warning dated Oct. 14 saying the GFS Pride was "reported sunk with floating containers," and told mariners to be cautious. The ship's capacity is 2,824 TEU.

A second ship going under

The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier Cape Dao, struck by a projectile on Sept. 23, is also reported to be sinking. Vanguard said the vessel is going down "after an unsuccessful rescue attempt." Its UAE-based manager, Peonies Shipmanagement FZE, could not be reached for comment.

That adds a second hull-loss candidate weeks after the first hit, on top of the GFS Pride.

Tehran says it will keep going

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on state TV that the IRGC is striking ships nightly. "We target five or six of these every night," he said. "Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic."

Rezaei also dismissed the U.S. naval escort effort that has moved unusually large numbers of tankers through the strait in wartime. He claimed the U.S. is using small craft to funnel Iranian oil onto larger tankers at sea for ship-to-ship transfer. Washington has not confirmed that account in these reports.

Iranian officials have also said they plan to extend operations into the Gulf of Oman to target commercial ships, with the aim of keeping oil prices high and influencing the U.S. midterm elections, according to The Independent. The IRGC chief, Ahmed Vahidi, called Hormuz Iran's "strategic red line."

The strait carried roughly 125 to 140 large commercial vessels a day before the war.

The tally keeps climbing. UKMTO counted at least 18 ships hit from Oct. 1 to Oct. 11, and the Financial Times reported six more attacks logged by other European security sources.

Washington's position

Trump said on Truth Social that the U.S. "will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd." He said the administration is "having productive discussions" with Tehran and that his main goal is keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

That posture sits awkwardly beside his remark at a campaign rally that "we've sort of had it" with Iran, and his warning that Washington will decide its next move "very soon." Washington says freedom of navigation in international waters is inviolable, a stance Gulf states that depend on the strait for trade have echoed. Crude has stayed above $100 a barrel through the recent strikes, according to CNN.

Other incidents

Separately, Iran's Tasnim agency reported that three fishermen were injured when a fishing boat was struck near Sirik in Hormozgan province. It described the strike as a U.S. drone attack, though Iranian authorities have not officially confirmed who was responsible or the circumstances.

It remains unclear whether Tehran's stated nightly pace holds. If it does, the Cape Dao's final status and any further UKMTO warnings over the coming days will show whether the loss of the GFS Pride was an outlier or the start of a pattern of ships being sunk rather than merely damaged.