Seven attacks on commercial vessels in the past week have highlighted the danger to shipping around the Strait of Hormuz. France says its minehunters and autonomous systems are ready to operate there. Iran is said to have laid dozens of mines during the conflict, and merchant vessels still face missiles, drones and fast-boat attacks.
Threats to Gulf Shipping
Rear Admiral Remi Thomas said France has mine-countermeasure vessels and autonomous systems “ready to go now” for operations in the Middle East. “We have two minehunters ready to not only be deployed but ready to operate in the Middle East, and we have also drones embarked on board Lyme Bay,” said RAdm Thomas, the French navy's chief of staff for plans and programmes.
French sea drones are already aboard the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary Lyme Bay, converted into a mother ship for unmanned minehunting systems. The vessel has gone to the Middle East with more than 270 sailors, including more than 100 Royal Navy mine-warfare and explosive-ordnance specialists.
France has placed frigates in the region and is prepared to keep a permanent naval presence after the US and Iran reach a workable peace agreement, Thomas said. Commercial traffic has returned in recent months. But the seven attacks reported in the past week show vessels still face direct threats while the Strait remains volatile.
Mine-Clearing Systems
France’s navy is expected to announce a tender in the coming days to charter two vessels as mother ships for its growing fleet of surface and submarine drones. Brig Gen Francois Watteau, who leads international naval projects at the defence procurement agency, said France would order 12 additional unmanned surface vessels to support mine-clearing operations.
“What we are currently facing is a need in very quick time for a solution for mine warfare,” Watteau said. He called the system a mine-countermeasure “toolbox” developed with Britain and similar to the Lyme Bay system. The system is expected to operate for up to 10 years, with deployments to the Middle East.
Under the Anglo-French Maritime Mine Counter Measures programme, unmanned surface vessels tow high-resolution sonar systems to search for mines. They then send remotely operated vehicles to identify and destroy them. Crews can search for and deal with mines using unmanned systems.
The mine-clearing force could also help clear the Red Sea, where the Houthis are said to have the potential to lay mines. The fleet will also operate in the Arabian Sea off Oman, on the approach to the Strait of Hormuz, a route heavily used by oil tankers.
Multinational Naval Mission
Britain and France have formed a “coalition of the willing” to build a multinational mission supporting freedom of navigation and mine clearance. In May, 38 countries gave political backing to the proposed operation. At least 10 European Nato countries are expected to contribute, including Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Each has traditional minesweeping ships, which would deploy when the waters offer a “permissive environment.”
The Type-45 destroyer HMS Dragon is in the Indian Ocean to assist with air defences and reassure commercial traffic when the Strait of Hormuz fully reopens. A Reuters headline said oil and fuel supply buffers are thinning as the conflict continues; no further details from that report were available.