Cargo ship Luni sinks in the Strait of Hormuz, all 23 crew members safe

The Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged bulk carrier, roughly 32 years old, had been anchored in the northern part of the Strait of Hormuz on July 14 when it began taking on water. The vessel later broke apart, with its midsection submerging while the bow and stern remained visible above the surface.

Local media reports said Luni had collided with another vessel several days earlier, sustaining hull damage that gradually let in water until the ship flooded and split apart.

Iran's state-run Fars news agency reported that all 23 crew members aboard, all foreign nationals, were evacuated safely before the ship went down and taken to Qeshm Island off Iran's southern coast.

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Maritime tracking data showed the vessel had departed from India and was bound for a port in the United Arab Emirates at the time of the incident.

The sinking occurred as tensions between Iran and the United States remained elevated in the region, though Iranian officials say there is no evidence connecting the incident to ongoing military activity.

The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world's busiest shipping corridors, with roughly a fifth of global oil and gas shipments passing through it in peacetime. Traffic through the strait has been repeatedly disrupted in recent months amid the wider conflict between the US and Iran, with several vessels attacked or forced to reroute since fighting resumed following the collapse of an earlier ceasefire agreement.