In Hormuz, pictures reveal huge cargo containers floating as Iran says mine sinks ship

Ship sinks after mine strike

Images have emerged of a vessel reportedly carrying over 2,500 containers sinking in the Strait of Hormuz. The ship hit a mine on Wednesday and caught fire, according to the account from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy.

The Guards Navy said the vessel had attempted to use an “unauthorised and dangerous” route. UK Maritime Trade Operations also received a report of a container ship struck by an unknown projectile, but it is not clear whether that report concerns the same incident. People appear to be gathered around the vessel, alongside smaller craft that may have been used for evacuation.

Second sinking since war began

The sinking is the second vessel loss since the US-Iran war began on February 28, according to data from the International Maritime Organisation, the UN shipping agency. British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the Antigua & Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier CAPE DAO was reported to be sinking on Wednesday after a failed rescue attempt. Vanguard said it had originally been hit on the 23 September.

Attacks disrupt vital waterway

Attacks around the Strait of Hormuz have risen over the past 10 days, as talks remain deadlocked and there appears to be no end in sight to the conflict. Before the war, about 125 to 140 large commercial vessels passed through the waterway daily. They included oil tankers, gas carriers, bunkers and container ships; the route carried a fifth of global oil and seaborne gas.