Strait of Hormuz 'extremely strategic water way'

Lt. Commander Jim Lovell, Captain of HMS Penzance of the UK Royal Navy, has said that the Strait of Hormuz is an extremely strategic water way, and that as 40 percent of world energy supplies flow through the area, the ship's purpose is to help keep the sea-lanes clear and open.

The Sandown-class minehunter ship, based at the UK's permanent facility in Bahrain, was showcased today as part of NAVDEX 2017 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre Marina.

"HMS Penzance is one of four minehunters of the Royal Navy based in the Middle East region," Lt. Commander Lovell explained to the WAM media team, who were invited on-board the ship. "This is a single-role mine hunter, SRMH, and its primary job is to find and dispose off of any sea mines."

During the tour of the Penzance, Lovell said that the ship, whose role is to neutralise underwater threats and clear sea-lanes for shipping, is constructed from fibreglass which creates a low magnetic signature for operating in and around mine fields, and is designed to resist high shock levels.

The ship is fitted with a mine-hunting system that consists of three main sub-systems, the Sonar 2093, BAE Systems' Insyte Nautis M combat management system, and mine disposal system, MDS, based around two variants of the Atlas Elektronik Seafox remote-controlled mine-disposal vehicles.

The highly sophisticated variable depth mine-hunting sonar utilises computer aided detection and classification. The Nautis M, or Naval Autonomous Tactical Information System Minewarfare, provides the command system and takes information received from the sonar and navigation systems, plus manually injected data, in order to provide the operations room and bridge with the full picture.

Lovell pointed out the importance of the strategic water-ways around the Middle East region, saying that 40 percent of the world energy supplies flow through that particular area, and that the presence of the Royal Navy's HMS Penzance in the region is to keep the sea lanes clear and open. The Captain thanked the UAE leadership and the Emirati people for their warm and welcoming reception.

The WAM media crew was taken to the HMS Penzance operations room, where the ship's navigator, Sub-Lt. Alex Pozriak, briefed them on the highly sophisticated and intelligent sonar operations system that can detect and locate sea mines at a depth of 170 metres.