Normal commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is not expected to fully resume until Iranian-laid naval mines are cleared from key shipping lanes, according to the Guardian, The New York Times, NPR, and others. Despite the mines, President Donald Trump said that the chokepoint has been reopened under a U.S.–Iran ceasefire framework. The Guardian reported that roughly 80 naval mines remain in or near primary transit routes.
Naval and maritime authorities describe clearance as a slow, high-risk process requiring specialized mine-countermeasure vessels and step-by-step sweeping operations before commercial shipping can safely return to normal levels. “The main route … through the middle of the Strait of Hormuz, that’s closed, that’s dangerous,” said Phil Belcher, marine director at Intertanko, the tanker owners’ association, according to the Guardian. It also said that almost 600 vessels are believed to still be in the Gulf, where they have been anchored since February, creating a significant backlog that will take time to clear even after conditions improve in spite of upbeat projections.
