Singapore-Flagged GFS Pride Sinks After Blast: 2,500 Containers From Dubai On Board All 21 Crew Rescued Safe

STRAIT OF HORMUZ / DUBAI: Surreal videos have gone viral showing thousands of iPhone boxes and luxury perfume bottles floating in the Strait of Hormuz after the container ship GFS Pride caught fire and sank on Wednesday Oct 14.

 Footage filmed by local fishing boats shows small boats scooping up cargo iPhone boxes, perfume bottles bobbing in water, containers floating. The clips could not be independently verified by India Today / The Sun / The National, but widely shared on X.

The Ship:

 Name: GFS Pride, Singapore-flagged, UAE-owned, managed by Dubai-based company

Cargo: 2,500 containers of goods including iPhones and luxury perfumes from *Dubai to Nigeria / Africa (reports vary)

 Route: Sank about 4 nautical miles NW of Oman's Musandam Peninsula, in southern Omani corridor of Strait of Hormuz

 Crew: All 21 rescued safe, no casualties  confirmed by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)

What Caused Sinking  Two Versions:

Iran IRGC Navy: Says ship struck naval mine after deviating into "unauthorized and dangerous route". Released photos of black smoke, listed vessel. Warned fishermen: "Exercise utmost safety, do not collide with floating containers."

International Maritime Sources / MPA / UKMTO:Ship hit by unidentified projectile / missile / explosive drone. UK Maritime Trade Operations first reported attack Tuesday Oct 14

Second Attack:

 Sister ship GFS Giselle, also Singapore-flagged, struck same day, hull damage but made it to anchorage under own power, no injuries.

Context  Rising Tensions:

 Strait of Hormuz carries ∼20% of world's oil + LNG. Sinking comes amid US-Iran naval war. On Oct 6, US CENTCOM helicopters blew up Iranian dhow in Gulf of Oman, accusing it of surveillance & targeting US Navy warships. More than 20 tankers/vessels attacked this month. Singapore condemned strikes as breach of international law.

One Iranian official warned vessels "would be safe nowhere, even outside Strait of Hormuz."