German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country could provide mine-clearance vessels and maritime reconnaissance to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, while stressing a “sound legal basis” would be needed. His offer followed talks with other European leaders about a possible multinational mission after the war. On the same day Iran’s senior diplomat Abbas Araghchi declared the waterway “completely open” for the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and US President Donald Trump said it was ready for full passage. Iran reversed that decision the next day, shutting the strait again.
That back-and-forth matters because Iranian officials had suggested there might be underwater mines in the strait. Experts are cautious: Johannes Peters, an undersea warfare specialist at Kiel University’s Institute for Security Policy, says it isn’t even certain mines are present. Still, the mere possibility is often enough to deter ships — and, in an active war zone, nobody can safely go and check.
How naval mines work
Naval mines are relatively cheap explosive devices placed in the water to detonate when a ship is nearby. They come in three basic types by placement:
– Drifting mines: float at or near the surface and move with currents;
– Moored mines: anchored to the seabed but floating below the surface;
– Bottom mines: rest directly on the seafloor.
Older contact mines detonated on impact via protruding horns. Modern designs are usually influence mines that trigger from magnetic signatures, underwater acoustics, or pressure changes caused by passing vessels. They can be programmed to target specific classes of ship: by analyzing a vessel’s acoustic or magnetic profile, an attacker can set a mine to ignore small or friendly craft while detonating for a larger, hostile target.
Finding and clearing mines
Clearing mines involves two linked activities: mine hunting (locating and identifying suspicious objects) and mine sweeping (neutralizing them). Once a potential mine is found, specialists decide whether to recover it, disarm it, or destroy it with a controlled underwater explosion. The process is meticulous and slow — like an underwater ordnance disposal service.
Uncrewed systems have transformed the work. Drones and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) can survey the seabed without putting crews at immediate risk. Ukrainian and German forces have both used drones to locate and, where possible, eliminate mines. Even so, humans still must review imagery to distinguish harmless debris from explosives and to choose how to deal with confirmed mines.
The scale of the task is large: decades may be needed to clear some areas. Mine-clearance units still find explosives dating back to World War II and even World War I, underscoring how persistent the problem can be.
Challenges in the Strait of Hormuz
Using AUVs in the Strait of Hormuz faces specific hurdles. Current battery-powered drones have limited endurance and must be launched relatively close to the search area. In a high-threat environment like Hormuz, that proximity exposes support vessels and personnel to long-range Iranian weapons. Frigate Captain Andreas of the German Navy’s 3rd Minesweeping Squadron says autonomous systems reduce risk to crews but being “close-by” in such a sensitive region is still dangerous.
Manufacturers are working to extend drone range and endurance. Euroatlas, for example, says its Greyshark AUV can sustain higher speeds for several hours and will enter production as a battery-powered autonomous system in September 2026. A later model with a fuel-cell system intended to allow week-long deployments is slated for series production by the end of that year. Longer-range AUVs could be launched from safer distances and still perform high-resolution seabed mapping and object identification.
Euroatlas’s Chief Sales Officer for AUVs, Markus Beer, argues that underwater reconnaissance with drones could be carried out “without risk and without escalating the situation,” since the drones avoid sending crews into range of shore-based fire. He also notes the advantage of autonomous image analysis and extended transit ranges compared with the small, short-lived drones in current use.
What this means for shipping
Even if mines are not confirmed in the Strait of Hormuz, the threat of them — combined with the danger of missile or artillery strikes from shore — can disrupt maritime traffic. Clearing suspected minefields is a slow, technical process requiring trained teams, assets for detection and disposal, and secure conditions to operate. Autonomous systems improve safety and efficiency but do not eliminate the need for cautious, time-consuming work.
In short: the presence of mines in the Strait of Hormuz is not definitively proven, but the suspicion alone is enough to pose a serious hazard to shipping. Modern minehunting drones offer better, safer options for detecting and neutralizing mines, yet operational limits and regional security risks make thorough clearance in such a contested waterway a complex and potentially lengthy undertaking.