Britain readies Minehunter in Gibraltar for Strait of Hormuz reopening

British forces are training a minehunter in Gibraltar to help clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz after a U.S.-Iran agreement ends the fighting. The Royal Navy showcased high-tech mine-sweeping capabilities on board the RFA Lyme Bay, but British officials said the work will not begin until the war stops.

RFA Lyme Bay in Gibraltar

Al Carns, Britain’s armed forces minister, said on board the RFA Lyme Bay in Gibraltar: “I would always say the Royal Navy is the best in the world,” and added, “We’ve also professionalized and really advanced our mine hunting capabilities over the last ten to fifteen years, some in collaboration with the French but also with our NATO allies and partners.” British officials invited journalists from three U.S. news organizations on Friday to observe training with high-tech mini submarines.

The British effort centers on the RFA Lyme Bay, which officials said would be the flagship of a mission to use mini submarines to detect mines laid by Iran in the strait and destroy them. British officials said reopening the Strait of Hormuz is expected to take months, and the first step would be a roughly 1,000-yard-wide corridor cleared to let roughly 2,000 ships and 20,000 crew members trapped in the Persian Gulf leave.

Allied vessels in the Persian Gulf

Britain has already sent a destroyer to the Persian Gulf region, and France has already sent its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy are expected to send more vessels, as British and French officials have co-chaired meetings in Europe to assemble the fleet needed for the clearance.

The wider effort is shaped by the limits of the U.S. Navy’s mine-sweeping capacity while the Pentagon replaces its aging fleet of Avenger-class minesweepers. The 36-year-old wooden-hulled USS Patriot is one of those vessels, a sign that the clearance burden will fall on a mixed force if the corridor opens.

Strait of Hormuz timeline

British officials said no mine-clearing operation will start until the U.S. and Iran reach an agreement that ends the fighting. Once that happens, a second roughly 1,000-yard-wide corridor would be cleared to create a route for ships to enter the Strait of Hormuz again.