It is still unclear whether the mines, which can sink all types of ships when activated, have been deployed in the Strait of Hormuz as part of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Most shipping is not able to pass through the strategically important strait as Iran continues its war with the United States, Israel and other countries in the region amid ongoing bombing of Iranian targets.
Reopening the strait to facilitate the flow of oil and fertilizer is a major objective of the global community.
Paul Heslop is an expert with the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) which focuses on clearing land-based mines.
He spoke to UN News’ Nathalie Minard ahead of International Mine Awareness and Assistance Day, observed on April 4 each year.
United Nations News: Do you have any information about naval mines being deployed in the Strait of Hormuz?
Paul Heslop: We know that the Iranian Navy had a large stockpile of sea mines before the conflict.
Paul Heslop, UNMAS
We have no confirmed reports of the number or type used, but sea mines are relatively easy to deploy.
You can take them out in a fairly small boat, fishing boat, dhow, or a dedicated minelayer.
United Nations News: What types of sea mines can be deployed?
Paul Heslop: If you consider a landmine, it is usually laid either on the surface or beneath it. And once it is laid, it remains in place unless an earthquake, landslide or large amounts of water shifts it.
The challenge with sea mines is that they can be placed in three layers: floating on the surface, underwater or deployed on the bottom of the seabed.
Obviously, if they are swimming, they are sensitive to tidal currents and can change location. They can also be tied and secured in one place.
A satellite photo shows the shipping route of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
These can be made of plastic or metal. Their activation mechanisms include contact with the hull, magnetic effects, or they can be detonated remotely, or timed to detonate.
United Nations News: Why is it more challenging to clear sea mines?
Paul Heslop: Clearing mines is difficult, but clearing sea mines is even more difficult.
You are working not only in three different depths, three dimensions, but also in a fourth dimension, which is time.
Over time, mines may shift. If an area has been cleaned, and there is a tidal wave or other current the same area may become contaminated again.
Additionally, some mines move through water, powered by propulsion mechanisms, so deminers are working in a dynamic and changing environment.
United Nations News: How can they be detected?
Paul Heslop: If they are metallic, a magnetometer (which measures changes in magnetic fields) will find them. A range of sophisticated sonar (sound wave) and radar (radio wave) detection equipment also exists to detect devices underwater.
Another challenging factor in water is temperature layers that can act as reflectors and make detection more difficult.
Therefore, if a mine is at such a depth that there is a distinct temperature layer above it, and a sonar is deployed, those temperature layers may cause the sonar to deform or deflect.
This is why finding and clearing sea mines is extremely challenging and dangerous for the ships doing so.
United Nations News: Which countries have minesweepers and the capability to intervene technically in that specific area of ​​naval mines?
Paul Heslop: Most navies will have some capability to deal with mines.
The conflict comes as crews transition from old-fashioned minesweeper boats to new technologies that use drones or underwater robotics to detect mines.
United Nations News: If sea mines were a proven danger to shipping, what would be the solution to allowing traffic to resume once peace was restored?
It’s a bit like a peacekeeping mission: you might have a rebel group that plants a mine on a road to target a convoy at night.
So, every morning, you patrol with a mine-protected vehicle to check that no mines have been laid the previous night.
If there is a peace agreement or settlement in the Strait of Hormuz and mines are deployed, for the foreseeable future, due to the dynamic nature of sea mines, there will probably be a need to form a convoy and remove the mines in front of that convoy.
A convoy would probably operate in a channel a few kilometers wide that had been cleared of mines. It will not be the case that every square meter of the Strait of Hormuz will be cleaned every day.
And obviously, depending on currents, tidal changes, some areas are more likely to be re-contaminated than others.
