Container ship sinks near Hormuz as Iranian attacks on shipping surge

The Singapore-flagged GFS Pride (2,824 TEU) was hit while crossing the strait on Tuesday, 13 October, caught fire and sank; all 21 crew were evacuated, Singapore's maritime authority said. The IMO counts it as the second sinking since the war began on 28 February. Iran's Revolutionary Guards say the ship hit a mine on an "illegal and dangerous route", while UKMTO suggested projectiles. Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran changed its attack tactics about 10 days ago to keep oil prices high and sway the US midterms; the Financial Times counted 24 ships hit in the two weeks to 11 October. Oil prices rose, the New York Times reports.