(Adnkronos) – Ensuring the security of the Strait of Hormuz from mines could delay the return to normal maritime traffic by weeks, as expected following the agreement to reopen the channel. The Jerusalem Post writes this, citing Western maritime security experts, according to whom demining operations conducted by conventional minesweepers and state-of-the-art underwater drones could last for 40-50 days before many insurance, shipping, or oil companies feel sufficiently safe to resume navigation. This could potentially block tens of millions of barrels of oil, in addition to oil supplies from the Gulf already blocked since February 28, the day the United States and Israel attacked Iran, according to estimates based on pre-war flows. Every barrel exported from the Gulf is crucial, as the world’s major economies’ stocks are heading towards their lowest levels since at least 2003, according to an analysis conducted last week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Despite Iran and the United States discreetly facilitating the passage of ships through the blocked strait in recent weeks, shipping officials continue to recommend caution, even after the United States and Iran announced yesterday that they had reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait. “We continue to consider it very risky for ships to begin transits at this time,” said Jakob Larsen, head of security at the maritime association Bimco. “The threat of mines in the area remains a concern both in the immediate and long term, and it is necessary to identify mine-free routes.”
It is unclear how many mines Iran may have placed in the strait, which before the war handled 20% of the world’s daily supply of oil and liquefied natural gas. Iran, which has sought to assert its control over the waterway during the war, has threatened to deploy naval mines, without confirming whether its forces have actually placed them. The United States has indicated that mines pose a risk and claims to have targeted Iranian vessels used for laying the ordnance. On June 2, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, that Iran has “mined large areas of Hormuz, international waters,” without providing further details. In a June 11 note, the German navy, citing information from the U.S. and British navies, stated that mines had been detected at four points around the strait, adding that Germany was unable to verify the exact location of the mines.
