Several crew members were injured on Tuesday evening when a CMA CGM container ship was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the French shipping giant said on Wednesday.

The vessel, the Malta-flagged San Antonio, sustained damage in the incident, the company said.

The attack came on the second day of “Project Freedom,” a U.S.-led initiative to escort commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which U.S. President Donald Trump announced early on Wednesday would be temporarily paused as negotiations with Iran advance.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the decision was made “based on the request of Pakistan and other countries” and cited “great progress” toward a potential agreement with Iranian representatives. He added that the U.S. naval blockade of Iran would remain in place.

The pause comes days after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the launch of Project Freedom, a military-backed effort involving warships, aircraft and roughly 15,000 personnel to safeguard merchant vessels in the strategic waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz carries about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil, and the initiative was framed by U.S. officials as both a security and humanitarian measure to assist neutral countries whose ships were stranded amid escalating tensions.

The move follows months of conflict between Washington, Jerusalem and Tehran, including joint U.S.-Israeli operations that began in late February and ended with a ceasefire on April 8.

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported for Axios on Tuesday that a senior Trump administration official notified Iran on Sunday of the planned U.S. operation to guide commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and warned Tehran against interfering, citing a U.S. official and another source familiar with the matter. Despite the warning, Iran launched a series of attacks targeting U.S. Navy vessels, commercial shipping and the United Arab Emirates.

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