Ukraine has reportedly offered to send four minehunter ships currently docked in the United Kingdom to assist with clearing Iranian mines and securing the Strait of Hormuz for international traffic.
The Times of London reported on Tuesday that Ukrainian naval officers would be present for a summit at the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) in northwestern London on Wednesday. Representatives of some 30 nations were scheduled to participate in a discussion of how to protect civilian ships in the vital Strait of Hormuz from Iranian terrorist attacks.
The effort envisioned by the summit would be of no help in the near term, as the mission would only be launched after hostilities between the United States, Israel, and Iran were concluded. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the deployment would be “strictly peaceful and defensive.”
The Ukrainian military delegation was prepared to offer any of its four minehunter ships for duty in the strait. All four ships are berthed in Portsmouth, the headquarters of the British Royal Navy. Two are British-built Sandown-class minesweepers gifted to Ukraine by the United Kingdom. The other two are Alkmaar-class ships donated by Belgium and the Netherlands, respectively.
Ex-Dutch sweepers now flying Ukrainian flag at stern in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. (Oliver JJ Lane/Breitbart News)
A fifth Alkmaar-class ship provided by the Netherlands was transferred to Ukraine’s control on Wednesday, several weeks ahead of schedule. The latest acquisition was christened Henichesk in honor of a ship sunk by Russian forces in 2022.
The mine-sweeping ships have hulls made from non-magnetic materials like fiberglass, to make them less of a target for magnetic sea mines. They use hull-mounted sonar systems to detect underwater objects, and rely upon undersea drones to inspect and neutralize dangerous mines.
“We are ready to offer everything. There are four minehunters, all in Portsmouth. They can’t go to Ukraine because first of all they would be target number one, and secondly because of the Montreux convention,” a Ukrainian military source told the Times.
The Montreaux Convention is a 1936 agreement, named for the city in Switzerland where it was signed, that gives Turkey the authority to close the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to naval traffic during times of war. This effectively gives Turkey a veto over naval movements between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean as a safety valve to prevent regional conflicts from escalating.
Turkey invoked the Montreaux Convention in February 2022 at Ukraine’s request, with exceptions for Russian ships returning to their home ports in the Black Sea. This prevented Russia from shifting more naval power into the Black Sea to attack Ukraine, but it also prevents Ukraine from moving its minesweepers into the Black Sea. The Ukrainians have been keeping the ships on standby until after the Russian invasion ends, with a hopeful eye toward using them to clear mines from commercial waterways.
One of the ships given to Ukraine by the United Kingdom, formerly called HMS Shoreham but renamed UNS Cherkasy by the Ukrainians, was deployed to the Middle East between 2018 and 2021. It boasts a detachable sonar array that is useful for detecting mines in deep water.
The Times noted that Ukraine has been eager to help in the conflict with Iran because Ukrainian leaders are well aware of President Donald Trump’s disgust with America’s putative European allies for doing nothing to help, not even when Iran is harming European interests by attacking commercial ships to close the Strait of Hormuz. The Ukrainians are nervous that Trump could seek to resolve the conflict by making a deal with Iran’s allies in Russia.
Ukraine is also eager to market its hard-won expertise at drone and counter-drone warfare to friendly nations. In a televised interview on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky touted his country’s “drone deals” with the Gulf Arab states that were attacked by Iran over the past two months, and said Ukrainian sea drones could play a role in protecting convoys through the Strait of Hormuz.
Zelensky said he recently inspected the fifth minesweeper ship gifted to Ukraine, and believes all five will be ready for deployment by the summer.
“We thank our partners, they helped us. This is a serious direction for us. We will also be able to help,” he said.
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