Iran says ship sank in Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday that a ship caught fire and sank in the Strait of Hormuz because of a mine, while British security firm Vanguard also reported a sinking.

“A container ship attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz using an unauthorised and dangerous shipping lane struck a mine that exploded,” said the navy of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran’s military.

Images released by the Guards show a plume of black smoke rising from a ship, while dozens of containers that have fallen into the sea float on the water. The Guards said the ship was carrying more than 2,500 containers.

Iran claims control of the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s hydrocarbons passed before the Middle East war. It regularly targets ships it accuses of transiting without authorisation, while the US has imposed its own blockade on Iran’s ports.

According to Vanguard, the GFS Pride, a Singapore-flagged container ship, was struck by a projectile on Tuesday and sank.

It was not clear if the two statements referred to the same ship.

Vanguard reported three other ships struck on Tuesday, with two of them continuing on their way and the fate of the third unknown.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) reported Wednesday that two container ships were struck on Tuesday by projectiles but continued on their way after sustaining only minor damage.

UKMTO earlier reported two other attacks on Tuesday targeting a tanker and a container ship, without specifying whether they had caused damage or casualties.

The war was triggered in late February by US-Israeli strikes against Iran.

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