Sea mines have emerged once again as a major threat in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said Oct. 17 that two oil tankers caught fire when they struck the explosives, renewing concerns about safety in one of the world’s most vital shipping corridors.
The warning came as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said mines posed a serious danger to ships using the strategic waterway. Tehran has also continued operating an unauthorized shipping route within its territorial waters.
“The traffic separation scheme, the information that we have is that they still have mines. And of course, whilst the conflict is ongoing, it’s very difficult for us to use third parties to verify that it is clear of these hazards,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told News Media.
Mine countermeasures ship USS Dextrous (MCM 13) (not pictured) sails with ships participating in the Oman-led exercise Khunjar Hadd in the Gulf of Oman. Dextrous is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East Region. (U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet/Handout via REUTERS)
“So in the meantime, we cannot guarantee that a vessel that intends to transit that route will not be hit by a mine.”
The naval forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Saturday that two oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported, citing Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
According to state media and Reuters, the two tankers were carrying roughly 2 million barrels of crude oil.
IRNA said the vessels had turned off their positioning and radar systems before attempting to follow a route through the strategic passage that Iran had not approved.
Smoke column rises from tanker El Gaia after incident in Strait of Hormuz
Reuters reported that the second tanker was disabled after hitting a mine.
The reported mine strikes occurred as Tehran continued to enforce a transit route inside Iranian territorial waters, charging tolls and safety fees overseen by the IRGC. Washington and the IMO reject the arrangement, saying it conflicts with international maritime law.
For decades, international shipping through the narrow chokepoint has used an IMO-approved traffic separation scheme adopted in 1968.
“Right now there’s only one route that was adopted back in 1968 that is approved and recognized for IMO and that appears in all the charts for the vessels to operate,” Dominguez said.
Attacks on vessels around the Strait of Hormuz have surged over the past two weeks. Senior Iranian officials also told Reuters that Tehran has shifted its strategy for attacking commercial vessels during that period. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“There’s only one route that should be used for transit, but it’s not clear of mines right now, so it’s not safe.”
Dominguez said the IMO had received confirmation from Iran that Tehran had established a temporary route through the waters. However, he said the route had not received “an official confirmation or a decision of the organization.”
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“Any other route needs to actually be sent to the organization to go through the processes, and we have not received that.”
“We have received communication from Iran to use that route because of the conflict,” Dominguez said.
“That’s the way that it’s been presented. But anything for us to approve needs to go through the mechanisms at the international maritime organizations and the member states need to review it.”
The latest incidents came as negotiations between Washington and Tehran remained stalled over efforts to end the conflict and restore normal maritime traffic.
Basij paramilitary force speed boats are sailing along the Persian Gulf near a general cargo vessel ( Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former Revolutionary Guard commander, said Tehran considered Washington’s latest response to negotiations “insufficient,” Reuters reported, according to IRNA.
Rezaei said the U.S. had accepted some of Iran’s seven conditions but that other issues remained unresolved, adding that Tehran was no longer responding to Washington and that the U.S. needed to clarify the outstanding matters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran had submitted a proposal to Washington through Qatar, which is mediating the negotiations, outlining conditions under which the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and normal maritime traffic resume within seven days.
“Our situation is clear and based on the seven-day proposal presented to the US. They shared comments which we are reviewing, but our proposal is still on the table and if there is any honesty on the US part, which there isn’t, the way to reopening the Strait of Hormuz is obvious,” Araqchi said in Baghdad, Reuters reported
As U.S.-Iran talks opened Sunday in Switzerland, a dispute over who controls and monitors billions of dollars in potentially unfrozen Iranian assets emerged (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via REUTERS)
Meanwhile, attacks on commercial vessels around the Strait of Hormuz have surged over the past two weeks.
Senior Iranian officials also told Reuters that Tehran has shifted its strategy for attacking commercial vessels during that period.
For commercial shipping operators, Dominguez warned that the continued threat of mines and attacks means the waterway has yet to return to normal operations.
The Strait of Hormuz is “not open for business in the way that it was before the conflict started,” he said.
“Our role right now is to prepare for when we have the opportunity to go back, resume the operations, follow all the procedures at IMO, but not until the root causes are addressed and those are beyond IMO.”
News Media reached out to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) for comment.