National Hydrographic Office

Two Emirati linked cargo ships have sunk near the Strait of Hormuz within 24 hours after separate attacks as Iranian operations against commercial shipping intensified to their highest level since the United States-Iran war began.

Pakistan's National Hydrographic Office reported that the GFS Pride and Cape Dow had both gone down, prompting new navigational warnings to mariners.

The Singapore-flagged container ship GFS Pride, carrying about 2,824 TEU of capacity, sank after being struck by a projectile.

Pakistan's hydrographer warned that the vessel was lost roughly four nautical miles northwest of Ras al Sheikh Masood on Oman's Musandam Peninsula, with containers reported floating in the water.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important energy choke points, and the losses have added to concerns about insurance costs, rerouting, and delays for commercial traffic.

The GFS Pride was the second vessel confirmed sunk since the United States-Iran war began on February 28, according to data cited from the International Maritime Organization.

Pakistan's National Hydrographic Office, which issued the warning dated October 14, advised vessels to exercise caution in the affected waters.

Maritime security firms corroborated that both United Arab Emirates-linked ships had sunk, while officials continued to assess the immediate risk to crews in passing traffic.

[upbeat music] In the Middle East, Iran is ramping up attacks in the Strait of Hormuz to levels not seen since the start of the war.

Two Emirati cargo ships have sunk in the past twenty-four hours, and Pakistan's National Hydrographic Office, which monitors activities in Middle Eastern waters, said this was the first incident like this in months.

Two other container ships and a tanker were also attacked yesterday as they crossed the strait, and maritime security firms estimate that about two dozen ships have been hit since the beginning of this month.

Iran is expanding its targets to non-oil cargoes as the US military has been successfully shepherding more Gulf oil through the strait, and oil producers have a growing ability to evade Iran's attempts to shut down routes.