Second UAE-Linked Vessel Sinks Near Strait of Hormuz in Less Than 24 Hours
A second commercial vessel managed by a UAE-based company has sunk near the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported on Wednesday, October 14, that the bulk carrier Cape Dao, which was damaged in an attack in Omani waters three weeks earlier that killed one crew member, had sunk after salvage efforts failed. It is the second UAE-linked vessel reported sunk in less than 24 hours.
The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Cape Dao was managed by UAE-based Peonies Shipmanagement FZE. The bulk carrier, with a deadweight capacity of about 170,000 tonnes, was attacked near the coast of Oman on September 23 while sailing from Mina Saqr Port in Ras Al Khaimah to India.
The attack sparked a fire in the vessel’s engine room and killed an Indian seafarer, Suraj Yadav. The Royal Navy of Oman dispatched a naval vessel and rescued the remaining 27 crew members, taking them ashore. Nineteen of those rescued were Indian nationals.
The damaged vessel remained in regional waters after its crew was evacuated. In navigational warning No. 370/26 issued on Tuesday, October 13, the Pakistan Navy Hydrographic Department said the Cape Dao was sinking in the Gulf of Oman and advised other vessels to exercise caution while passing through the area.
British maritime risk management firm Vanguard said on Wednesday that efforts to salvage the vessel had failed. The United Nations’ International Maritime Organization also updated the Cape Dao’s status to “sunk” in its latest list of confirmed maritime incidents.
The sinking was confirmed hours after reports that the container ship GFS Pride had also gone down. The Singapore-flagged vessel was managed by Dubai-based GFS Shipmanagement and had a capacity of 2,824 twenty-foot equivalent units.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore confirmed on Wednesday that GFS Pride caught fire after being struck by an unidentified projectile on October 13 and eventually sank. All 21 crew members were rescued before the vessel went down, and no injuries were reported. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had earlier claimed that a container ship sank after striking a naval mine while sailing along an unauthorised route south of the Strait of Hormuz.
In a separate incident, another container ship, GFS Giselle, was struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, damaging its hull. However, the vessel managed to reach a safe anchorage under its own power, and all 22 crew members are safe.
According to a Reuters review of International Maritime Organization data, GFS Pride and Cape Dao were the second and third vessels, respectively, to sink in regional security incidents since the war began on February 28. The first was the container ship Safin Prestige, which sank in March after being struck by a projectile.
The two vessels sank amid an escalation in attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman in recent days. Reuters, citing two senior Iranian officials, reported that Tehran had adopted new tactics to target passing vessels. The latest attacks have not been limited to oil tankers, but have also targeted container ships and bulk carriers.