Gibraltar—Duqm (a port in central Oman): 3,435 nautical miles (6,362 kilometres). That distance could — according to current official London plans — be covered by the British Royal Navy’s Lyme Bay amphibious ship one day, after the ongoing US-Iranian hostilities in and around the Strait of Hormuz cease.
Whether the 33-meter-long “Lyme Bay” will embark on a ten-day voyage from its current base in Gibraltar to the port of Duqm (about 600 kilometres from the Strait of Hormuz) in order to begin the mission of detecting and destroying mines placed in the Strait of Hormuz is a question whose answer does not depend only on the calculations of British strategists.
As things stand now, an end to the current US-Iranian military operations in the Strait of Hormuz and the waters of the nearby Sea of Oman is not yet in sight. As of today (April 22), the Iranian National Guard acted against foreign commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, after Trump’s decision to extend the ceasefire with Iran (at the suggestion of Pakistan), at least until April 26. https://www.eurasiareview.com/22042026-iran-seizes-two-ships-in-strait-of-hormuz/. At the same time, the Americans are not abandoning the blockade of Iranian ports.
Aside from whether US President Donald Trump is once again signalling the possibility of continuing negotiations with Tehran. (https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/909801/white-house-says-trump-has-not-set-deadline-for-iran-peace-proposal).
The Iranians still seem to be restrained on that occasion. (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/22/iran-blames-trumps-blockade-for-diplomatic-impasse-as-fragile-truce-holds).
Perhaps, among other things, because there is already concern in the West that the Iranians have placed an unknown number of “model” Maham 3 and Maham 5 mines, as well as a dozen “midget” submarines of the Ghadir class, capable of acting against various shipping, among them, for example, tankers loaded with oil and liquid gas (LNG). In addition to this, there is also speculation about where exactly the maps of all the locations of the mines laid in the Strait of Hormuz from February 28 to today are. (https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/4/13/what-do-we-know-about-sea-mines-in-and-around-the-strait-of-hormuz).
Of these delicate uncertainties for military strategists from various parts of the world, an even bigger nightmare for the world’s merchant navy is a possible “close encounter” with underwater mines in the Strait of Hormuz and its surroundings.
Really, how many underwater mines have been placed inside the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the US-Israel conflict against Iran?
That question is certainly important for the US President Donald Trump, who still considers free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz to be one of the key goals of the “military operation” against Iran.
To that end, the Pentagon has begun “deploying unmanned and autonomous surface platforms capable of towing an advanced sonar mine detection system to detect those laid by Iranian naval forces” (https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/us-navy-deploys-sea-robots-sweep-hormuz-chokepoint-mines). The action also mentions battery-powered underwater drones, called the MK18 Mod 2 Kingfish and Knielfish, which can be launched from a small boat and then scanned for mines…
As of today, the “Washington Post” reported that the Pentagon has informed Congress that demining the Hormuz Pass would take at least six months, and that such an operation is unlikely until the US-Iran war ends (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/22/iran-hormuz-mines/).
It seems from everything that is current, that the season of possible laying of mines in the Hormuz Straits may not be close to the end? In that case, prepositioning of various underwater drones and robots… capable of detecting mines is to be expected there. Crowding on the surface of the waters of the Hormuz Straits , but also below them, as if in the coming period, could be increasing.
The amphibious “Lyme Bay” will hardly remain the sideliner.
