Iranian projectile sinks GFS Pride in Strait of Hormuz, all 21 crew rescued
A second Singapore-flagged vessel, GFS Giselle, suffered hull damage in the same attack
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Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
UpdateThursday, October 15, 2026 at 6:10 PM ET
The later filing identifies the GFS Pride as a US-linked vessel, not solely Singapore-flagged as first reported, and calls its loss the first confirmed US-linked ship sunk by Guard Corps fire.
US officials now describe the GFS Pride as a civilian vessel with ties to the United States, not solely Singapore-flagged, and call its sinking the first confirmed destruction of a US-linked ship by Guard Corps fire in the conflict. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says the tanker had switched off its navigation system and ignored warnings while trying to leave the strait, and Iran has told Hezbollah to raise its readiness. CNN reports the US is weighing use of the GBU-57 bunker-buster bomb against Iran. The IEA has flagged a supply deficit as strait transit runs far below pre-conflict levels.
US Central Command has confirmed that a projectile fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps sank the Singapore-flagged GFS Pride in the Strait of Hormuz. All 21 crew members were rescued safely. The confirmation removes any doubt about a report that the vessel had gone down under tow after Iran's Guard Corps said it had struck a third tanker in the strait in two days.
A second Singapore-flagged ship, GFS Giselle, suffered hull damage in the same attack. That marks the first time this week's campaign has hit more than one vessel in a single incident, rather than striking isolated targets.
The sinking is the third loss of a commercial vessel in the strait within a week. Earlier in the week, a dry bulk carrier sank within a day of being hit by a projectile, the second total loss of a commercial vessel in the waterway inside 24 hours. Iran's navy had also reported a vessel ablaze east of the strait, and its state news agency IRNA said a tanker that caught fire there had violated sanctions. Days before the confirmed strikes began, the UK Maritime Trade Operations authority had logged a report of a container ship hit by an unidentified projectile in the same waters.
Central Command said more than 40 vessels transited the strait in the 24 hours before the filing. That volume cuts against any claim that traffic through the waterway remains unaffected, since the number of ships passing through says nothing about the odds that any one of them is hit. With physical losses continuing to mount faster than any diplomatic resolution, crude oil's risk premium has grounds to stay elevated.