This thread is loosing its way but there has always been a Mine Counter Measures presence in the Gulf and my thoughts are that they have been working overtime recently.
The Royal Navy has maintained a four-strong force of minehunters – presently Sandowns HMS Ramsey and Pembroke and Hunts HMS Middleton and Quorn – in the Gulf for the past five years, using Bahrain as the hub of its operations; the kingdom is also home to the Senior Service’s regional command centre, the UKMCC.