Amid tensions with Iran, the UK sends a mine-hunting ship to the Strait of Hormuz: ReportWhile London maintains that it does not wish to get directly engaged in the current war with Iran, the United Kingdom is getting ready to send a specialised military ship to the Strait of Hormuz to assist in the detection and clearing of Iranian mines.
The mission revolves upon RFA Lyme Bay, a British navy support ship that has been converted into a floating base for clearance crews and mine-hunting drones. In the upcoming days, the ship is anticipated to sail via the Suez Canal in the direction of the Persian Gulf, having just left Gibraltar.

Although the UK had already sent fighter jets and anti-drone technology to Middle Eastern nations under Iranian attack, British Armed Forces Minister Al Carns emphasised to Newsweek that Britain was "not involved in the war in the first place."
The report claims that when Washington and Tehran strike a peace deal, the UK and France jointly said in April that they will spearhead a "strictly defensive" campaign to safeguard merchant ships and remove explosives from the Strait of Hormuz."To try to clear those mines and ensure that commercial shipping can flow again and get the economy moving back to normal, we're now pulling 40 countries together, [and] very specific and sophisticated capabilities," Carns told Newsweek.
The Lyme Bay is equipped with a variety of unmanned underwater equipment that use magnetic, sonar, and sound sensors to find mines. It is thought that some of the explosives are comparable to the Iraqi mine that caused damage to the USS Tripoli during the 1991 Gulf War. Others are said to be activated just by the shadow of a ship passing over them.

One underwater drone can scan about 25 square miles in around 20 hours, according to sailors on board the ship who spoke to Newsweek. However, the same location might require many inspections to make sure no bombs are still hidden underwater. The unmanned technologies may still clear channels about twice as quickly as conventional mine-clearing ships, according to officials.
When a mine is found, teams can either deploy skilled divers to manually neutralise it or destroy it remotely. However, authorities warned that it might take months to establish even a small number of secure passageways for commercial ships.
After months of war with the US and Israel, Iran tightened control over maritime routes, causing significant disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz.As tensions simmered despite an ongoing ceasefire and failed peace talks, the US military recently conducted nocturnal attacks in Iran, targeting a location close to the Strait of Hormuz that officials claimed threatened US personnel and commercial vessels.