Traversing the Strait of Hormuz remains one of the most dangerous trips a vessel can take, and despite assistance from the U.S. Navy, ships are still being attacked, the BBC reported.
"To transit the Strait of Hormuz you need agreement between the captain and the crew to take the risk. You need war risk insurance. And the captain has to make the final decision," said Steve Cameron, a former merchant navy officer and maritime consultant. Missiles and drones are a threat from the air, but under the surface mines may also be lurking. "If you're a captain, you'd like to see evidence mines aren't present," he added.
Modern mines rest on the seabed and detonate when they detect an acoustic or magnetic signal, triggering a pressure wave that will break the keel of a passing vessel. Others can rise through shallow waters or float, or be powered toward a target. The technology itself is not difficult or costly, but the mere threat can stop a tanker fleet from sailing. Ian McFarlane of French defence group Thales, a naval architect, told the BBC: "Mines are a very cheap way of waging a naval war, as the Royal Navy is acutely aware."
From 80 sailors on a ship to 20 people on land
Finding sea mines has traditionally been the job of specialist mine-hunting vessels, with crews of around 80 sailors. To keep humans out of harm's way, an increasing amount of the work is done by systems that are autonomous and monitored from the shore. They might only need 20 personnel, working in shifts on land. With the recruitment and retention challenges facing NATO navies, these portable robot systems are very attractive. The technology has been under development for 20 years. During the 2003 Iraq war, the U.S. Navy used a torpedo-shaped robot called the Remus 100 to poke around the seabed, pinging with sonar down to around 100 feet and sparing divers a difficult task, the BBC reported.
The latest conflict in the Gulf is testing more capable systems. The U.S. military has been sparing with details, but Iranian forces hauled an uncrewed U.S. autonomous sub out of the waters of the Strait of Hormuz in early September. The Pentagon claimed this robot, an Extra Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle from Anduril, was a malfunctioning older device with no classified equipment on board. Whatever its mission, no sailors were imperilled. That, said William Lupton, a naval analyst with Shephard Group, "was a drop in the ocean compared to having prisoners taken," and part of the point of uncrewed vessels. NATO navies are reluctant to go into details about what happens if such a vessel is captured, the BBC reported, but computer drives can be wiped or destroyed.
The trade is blunt: fewer people in the water, more machines that can be lost, hauled up or denied. The BBC's account does not claim the Strait is now clear of mines. It describes a shift already underway, from 80-person hunters to shore-watched robots, tested in a waterway where the threat of a cheap mine can still stop a tanker.