FT: US commandos took part in secret Strait of Hormuz mine-clearing operation

The Strait of Hormuz was cleared of mines at night by small teams of US Navy SEAL divers using maritime drones, inflatable boats and specialist underwater equipment, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the operation.

The covert mission lasted four months. It followed a June warning from the International Maritime Organization that Iran had placed about 80 mines in the strategic waterway, through which oil and liquefied natural gas leave the Middle East. The operation came under scrutiny after Donald Trump said last week that “all mines” in the international waters of the strait had been removed or detonated.

The report noted that three US ships typically responsible for mine countermeasures had been outside the region, in the Indian and Pacific oceans, since at least early June. Retired US Navy Captain Bill Hamblet said the forces may have operated from the USS Miguel Keith, an expeditionary sea base assigned to Persian Gulf naval forces.

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Typically, a diver has to approach the mine, place an explosive charge and detonate it.

Mine clearance remains a slow and dangerous task. Divers may have to approach a mine, attach an explosive charge and detonate it, Hamblet said. Bryan Clark, a mine-clearance expert at the Hudson Institute, said the teams face attack because their boats and helicopters have limited protection. The Financial Times reported no US casualties from the operation.

Ship operators expressed optimism that the southern section near Oman had been cleared, but questioned whether the entire strait was safe. Mine threats have pushed insurance premiums to as much as ten times their pre-conflict levels, potentially costing about $10 million for a typical supertanker. On the same day Trump announced the clearance, a US Navy-led maritime information center warned of a continuing risk from drifting or uncharted mines. Iran blocked the strait during the first days of a war that began with a US-Israeli attack in February and has said it will control the waterway and charge substantial fees to ships using it.

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Mine-clearance forces are exposed to attacks because their boats or helicopters do not have adequate defenses, and the whole operation is slow.