The minesweeper Fulda has left the Kiel-Wik naval base on the Baltic and is sailing for the Mediterranean to join a NATO mine countermeasures group. Its sensing and neutralization equipment could strengthen NATO efforts against sea mines and would be well placed to help in the Strait of Hormuz if Germany agrees to join an international operation there.
Since the outbreak of the US‑Israel war with Iran on February 28, Iranian forces are suspected of laying mines that disrupt commercial transit through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. The disruptions have pushed up global oil and liquefied natural gas prices.
Berlin says the Strait blockade is already damaging the German economy. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly stated that Germany is willing to assist in securing a peace agreement, but only once the Iran war has ended. Merz told television viewers he had raised the issue directly with US President Donald Trump, saying the conflict is harming Germany and that Berlin wants the fighting to stop and is prepared to help.
The German navy has decades of mine-clearance experience. Since World War II it has been engaged in removing old ordnance, particularly in the Baltic. A fleet of ten minesweepers, equipped with modern drones and specialist mine divers, has given Germany recognized expertise in an area where few countries match its capabilities. Within NATO, such mine-clearance know-how is scarce and highly prized.
Any armed deployment of German forces abroad must conform to the Basic Law and Federal Constitutional Court rulings. A mission would need to be embedded in a system of collective security, such as the United Nations, NATO or the European Union.
The Bundestag must be notified and must vote to approve any mandate; that mandate would define the Bundeswehr’s precise tasks, the assets to be used, the operational area, personnel limits and the mission’s duration.
Parliamentary approval could take days or weeks, so the navy is already preparing and reallocating forces. Frigate Captain Inka von Puttkamer, commander of the 3rd Minesweeper Squadron at Kiel, warned that nearly all available units are already deployed and that assigning ships to a new mission inevitably reduces other commitments.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has described the German navy as the smallest in the Federal Republic’s history and notes it is currently committed to multiple EU, NATO and UN operations.
Von Puttkamer stressed that mine-clearance teams require secure conditions on land and from the air to operate safely. Minesweepers cannot defend themselves against air or land threats, so they typically work alongside warships such as frigates and corvettes. She added that the new P‑8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft could provide useful support.
Pistorius has said any operation would have to be carried out with partners, notably the United States, which he regards as having the best situational awareness in the region. On television he argued that because the Americans and Israelis are leading the conflict, Germany must coordinate with them when addressing its fallout.
How extensively the Strait of Hormuz has been mined remains unclear. A key condition for a German deployment is a lasting end to the Iran war — a prospect that looks uncertain as tensions around the strait have intensified again.
This article was originally written in German.