The sea mine clearance like those planted by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is much more complicated, expensive and requires advanced techniques compared to the removal of landmines, said today the United Nations coordinator for mine action in Ukraine, Paul Heslop.
Likewise, he highlighted the differences in the impact of a mine: “If a person steps on a mine, it is devastating for that individual; if it happens with a vehicle, it affects those inside; but if we talk about a 100 or 200 million dollar oil tanker that transports a million barrels of oil, the impact of a sea mine is not only financial and human, but it also has an enormous environmental cost.”
Heslop commented that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has provided Ukraine with more than 60 underwater robots for the disposal of unexploded ordnance in waterways.