Nations Unite for Mine Countermeasures Exercise
UNIPATH STAFF
Hidden beneath the surface of the sea, thousands of deadly mines wait for their targets, threatening global commerce and the lives of mariners.
Neutralizing these water-borne threats is no easy feat, but nations have recognized the need for a cooperative approach to keeping the seas safe.
Military officials and maritime experts from more than 40 countries gathered May 6 to 30 for the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2013 (IMCMEX), an event that drew countries such as Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. This was the largest anti-mine exercise in the region, bringing together about 6,500 service members.
Hosted by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet, the exercise was based in Manama, Bahrain, and stretched from the Arabian Gulf, through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Gulf of Oman.
“The maritime domain is a very complex and challenging place to operate,” said Vice Adm. John Miller, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. “Those who seek to challenge us in the maritime environment through aggression, malign activity or criminality in the sea lanes present a threat not only to regional stability but the entire global economy.
“Threats must be confronted by a collective body of mariners operating to keep the global commons open for responsible traffic. That collective body of mariners does not just mean militaries — it includes industry and governmental organizations.”
Officials said this year’s exercise was a success because it allowed naval forces from around the world to connect with industry experts to address complex sea operations. IMCMEX employed 35 ships covering 8,000 nautical miles and unmanned undersea vehicles covering 70 nautical miles for mine hunting, explosive ordnance disposal, maritime security operations and infrastructure protection.
“We cannot constrain these exercises to merely mine countermeasures when the problem is clearly from port of departure to port of arrival. We have to include maritime security more broadly, and we have to include maritime infrastructure protection,” said United Kingdom Commodore Simon Ancona, deputy commander of Combined Maritime Forces and commander of the 2013 International Maritime Exercise Force.
The exercise included three phases: a maritime infrastructure protection symposium, kinetic operations at sea and meetings to discuss best practices and lessons learned for the future.
Maritime security operations were new to this year’s IMCMEX and included shipping escort and visit, board, search and seizure operations.
The maritime infrastructure symposium offered presentations covering a wide range of topics that impact maritime security: safety concerns of shipping liquid natural gas, technological trends in unmanned underwater vehicles, cyber threats to maritime infrastructure and oil spill response.
“I was very pleased to see so much face-to-face discussion and interaction during the breaks,” Miller said. “We grow our capacity for defensive, partnered operations by understanding each other. That starts with a conversation, person-to-person exchange of ideas.”
Information from U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet was used in this report.
Mine Facts
A sea mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Mines are deposited and left to wait until triggered by the approach of, or contact with, a passing vessel.
Indiscriminate: Sea mines hide just beneath the water or partially buried in the littorals, preying on unsuspecting shipping, disrupting global commerce and stability in mined areas.
Prolific: More than 60 countries possess a collective inventory of more than 250,000 sea mines. This total includes only official mine inventories, not improvised waterborne explosives that are cheap and easy to make and deploy.
Deadly: A $10,000 mine can cripple a $2 billion naval vessel. In fact, in the history of naval warfare, mines have sunk more ships than conventional gunfire.
Mission: Explosive ordnance disposal divers locate and identify foreign and domestic ordnance. They execute underwater mine countermeasure operations to clear waterways in support of the fleet by locating, identifying, neutralizing, recovering and disposing of ordnance such as sea mines, torpedoes and depth charges.
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet