Two Container Ships Hit in the Strait of Hormuz in Two Days, One Sunk — Gulf-Bound Cargo Faces a Harder Calculation

The 2,824 teu GFS Pride was hit by an unknown projectile on 13 October about one nautical mile east of Ras Makhbuq, Oman, caught fire and sank. All 21 crew were evacuated without injury. Less than 24 hours later the 4,350 teu GFS Giselle took hull damage in the same waterway and reached a safe anchorage under her own power, her 22 crew unharmed. Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority confirmed both incidents on 14 October and called the attacks unprovoked and a breach of international law.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy claimed a vessel carrying more than 2,500 containers had struck a mine on an "unauthorised and dangerous" route. That account is unverified, and US media quoting security analysts have suggested a drone strike instead. Either way, the arithmetic for carriers is grim: the GFS Pride is the second merchant ship lost since the US-Israel-Iran war began on 28 February, after the bulk carrier Cape Dao sank in the Gulf of Oman following a torpedo attack on 23 September that killed one Indian seafarer. More than 100 vessels have been attacked in and around the strait since the war started, with October shaping up as one of the most violent months yet.

The liner industry is voting with its port calls. The Gemini Cooperation's Far East–Middle East loop — sold as AGX by Hapag-Lloyd and FM1 by Maersk — restarts on 17 October on a Qingdao–Ningbo–Tanjung Pelepas–Khor Fakkan–Singapore–Qingdao rotation. The telling detail is what is missing: Jebel Ali, inside the strait, has been swapped for Khor Fakkan on the UAE's east coast, outside it.

That refuge is already crowded. Kuehne+Nagel's latest port update names Khor Fakkan and Fujairah as the region's main pressure points, and Maersk's own advisory lists vessel congestion, limited berths, high yard utilisation and long truck queues; boxes are being shifted to an inland depot at Sajja, with some shipments possibly redirected back to Jebel Ali. Trucking capacity inside the UAE has been scarce since the war began, and forwarders told The Loadstar it is being snapped up by whoever pays most rather than whoever needs it most. Meanwhile marine fuel is more than 70% above pre-war levels, bunker term contracts have shrunk from six or twelve months to a quarter or even one month, and MSC is already collecting a regional cost surcharge of $1,000 per teu on Europe–UAE cargo.

For shippers the practical playbook is short. Ask which side of the strait your port call sits on — Jebel Ali and Dammam are shorter but carry war-risk exposure, while Khor Fakkan, Fujairah and Salalah are safer but congested, so build in five to seven days of buffer. Watch Jeddah: congestion there is easing and Kuehne+Nagel expects volumes to redistribute towards Jeddah, Aqaba and Salalah, which opens rerouting options for Saudi- and Jordan-bound cargo. And treat rate validity as perishable — with fuel surcharges resetting, a quote older than a fortnight is a guess.

Yufeng International Logistics operates dedicated Middle East services covering the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, by sea and air — see the Middle East routes page.

Sources: Based on reporting by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), The Loadstar, Xinhua, Kuehne+Nagel and Maersk advisories.