I wish this was a true story.
“I wish this was a true story.”
It’s true to a point. The British Navy plans on upgrading facilities where they currently keep minesweepers.
Having worked in minesweeping I can tell you that mines represent the biggest threat in middle eastern oil. The Iranians have an estimated 30-70 thousand mines with which to block the Straits of Hormuz. Some mines are impossible to sweep and must be hunted. If the Iranians deploy their mines no more oil will flow from the Persian Gulf. It would all have to be piped elsewhere.
Hunting a mine means you send down a remote vehicle which ID’s the mine and then self-destructs. These cost in the neighborhood of $45,000 each. The mines can cost as little as $1,000. Also, mines can be made to resemble engine blocks or wreckage, so they can’t be identified even if you find them. Imagine what it would cost to clear the straits.