Two cargo ships sunk in Strait of Hormuz as Houthis strike Riyadh and Aramco

The Iran war pushed deeper into the Gulf on 14-15 October 2026 as two cargo ships went down in the Strait of Hormuz, one hit by a projectile and the other sinking after striking a sea mine, with traffic through the chokepoint slowing dramatically. The Singapore-flagged containership GFS Pride caught fire and sank, all 21 crew evacuated safely, while a second Singapore-registered box ship, GFS Giselle, was struck but reached anchorage under its own power with its 22-strong crew unharmed. Iranian attacks have hit more than 14 vessels in the strait over the past two weeks. In parallel, Yemen's Houthis struck the Eastern Province headquarters of Saudi state oil company Aramco, damaging the chief executive's office, and launched another ballistic missile at Riyadh that the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted. Saudi strikes on Houthi fuel depots in Sanaa, Hodeidah and Dhamar continued through the night. The dual theatre deepened fears for global oil shipments and widened a diplomatic rift, with Iraq's new prime minister flying to Riyadh to pledge that Iraqi territory would not be used against the kingdom.