Merchant vessels have come under repeated attack in the Strait of Hormuz – which connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea – and elsewhere in the Middle East since the US and Israel’s war with Iran began in February.
At least 24 seafarers have been killed in 106 confirmed incidents, according to the UN’s International Maritime Organization.
The Malta-flagged container ship Safeen Prestige, which was attacked near Oman on 4 March, is the only other vessel reported to have sunk in that time.
However, maritime risk management group Vanguard said on Wednesday that the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier Cape Dao was reported to be sinking after an unsuccessful rescue attempt, according to Reuters news agency.
One seafarer was killed when the Cape Dao’s bridge and accommodation area were hit by an unknown projectile as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, north-east of Khasab, Oman, on 23 September.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, was effectively closed after the start of the Iran war due to Iranian missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait in June, but it collapsed within weeks after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade.
Iran insisted it would not give up some measure of control over the waterway and began targeting vessels using a southern route through Omani waters that avoids its preferred route through Iranian waters.
To keep exports flowing from Gulf Arab states, the US military has been providing protection for tankers shuttling oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Last month, crude exports through the waterway rose to around 80% of pre-war levels of 16 million barrels per day (bpd) on average, according to analysts from shipping data company Kpler, despite an increase in attacks on shipping.
