US-linked GFS Pride sunk by Iranian projectile in Strait of Hormuz, all 21 crew rescued
US officials now describe the sunk GFS Pride as a civilian ship with ties to the United States. A second ship, GFS Giselle, was damaged in the same attack.
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
US officials now describe the GFS Pride as a civilian vessel with ties to the United States, not only a Singapore-flagged ship. They call its sinking the first confirmed destruction of a US-linked ship by Guard Corps fire in the conflict.
US Central Command has confirmed that a projectile fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps sank the vessel 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 2 days.
The Guard Corps says the ship had switched off its navigation system and ignored warnings while trying to leave the strait.
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.
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