Suspected mine spotted in Omani waters near Hormuz

Oman’s Maritime Security Centre issued a navigation warning at the weekend after the object was spotted west of the Inshore Traffic Zone in the strait. The MSC urged all mariners to exercise extreme caution and maintain a safe distance from any suspicious objects.      “Due to the sighting of a floating object suspected to be a floating mine west of the Inshore Traffic Zone in the Strait of Hormuz within Omani territorial sea, the Maritime Security Centre urges all seafarers, fishermen, and vessels to exercise the utmost caution while navigating in the area,” the MSC warned. “All maritime users are advised to keep a safe distance from any suspicious objects and report them immediately to the relevant authorities.”      A NAVAREA IX navigation warning placed the sighting at position 26-24.3N 056-20.6E around where some vessels that have transited out of the strait in recent weeks, deliberately hugging the Omani coast to avoid Iranian interference.      The mine warning follows a US Central Command announcement on May 25 that American forces had struck two Iranian boats in the strait that were attempting to lay mines.      US NAVCENT has since warned that Iran continues to attempt to impede mine clearance operations and that US forces in the strait are on high alert for Iranian attack. Shipping has been advised to avoid the Traffic Separation Scheme and coordinate any transit with US Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping.      Beyond the immediate physical threat, analysts are increasingly focused on a more complex question: what kind of waterway emerges from this crisis when the shooting eventually stops.      Broker Hartland Shipping describied the negotiating position in its latest weekly report as one where Washington’s desperation to exit has become an Iranian advantage. “The president is a victim of the short-war fallacy and is now so desperate to do a deal and exit that Tehran has smelt blood,” the firm said.      The toll question is gaining traction. Iran has been requesting payment for transits, though it remains unclear how many operators are paying and how much. Tehran is reportedly considering making such charges permanent, and has floated the idea of doing so in collaboration with Oman. Oman has denied any willingness to participate, and President Trump has threatened military action should Oman collaborate with Iran on transit fees. Qatar’s deputy prime minister said at the weekend that while Doha opposes a permanent toll, a temporary fee tied to mine clearance could be negotiable.      Sea-Intelligence argued yesterday (31 May) that while the notion of paying for passage through a natural chokepoint provokes outrage in principle, the shipping industry’s actual behaviour tells a more complicated story. Operators already pay for armed security guards through piracy-prone waters, and war risk insurance is itself a form of payment for operating in contested regions. “We should therefore not rule out an outcome where some form of payment might be introduced in the Strait of Hormuz,” the Danish consultancy said.       “It is increasingly difficult to tell whether the Hormuz strait is likely to re-open, remain closed, become a toll road, a convoy transit area, or another yet unknown arrangement,” law firm Campbell Johnston Clark said in a new report. “By far the largest uncertainty to be priced into the market is not the current state of the strait, nor when it will re-open, but what order will govern the strait when it does.