Two of three Royal Navy warships responsible for a long-running operation to protect Middle East trade have crashed in a Bahrain port.
Royal Navy investigating what happened to HMS chidding fold He was filmed backing up to fellow mine hunter HMS. bangor. Together they form two-thirds of Operation Kipion, Britain’s permanent naval presence in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.
The Ministry of Defense announced that there were no casualties on board HMS. chidding fold It is said to continue to operate with only minor damage.However, it is unclear how long HMS will last. bangor becomes incapacitated.
This comes after the UK and US launched airstrikes in Yemen aimed at mitigating Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, and the Iran-aligned group said this could lead to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. It is claimed that this is an act of retaliation.
Maj. Gen. Edward Ahlgren said: First of all, I would like to emphasize that, fortunately, no one was injured in this collision, but there was some damage.
“We still don’t know why this happened. We train our employees to the highest standards and strictly enforce our machinery safety standards, but unfortunately an incident like this Accidents of this nature may still occur.
“A full and thorough investigation is already underway and I can assure you that any changes to procedures that could prevent further incidents will be implemented swiftly. In the meantime, the UK remains committed to ensuring the safety of commercial shipping in the region. will continue to play an important role in ensuring that
The pair have been hailed as “three of the Royal Navy’s finest mine hunters”, patrolling the Gulf searching for and destroying unexploded mines planted during the Iran-Iraq War.
We also work closely with the UK’s allies to maintain the security of regional shipping lanes, which are vital to both international shipping and the global economy.
This is not the first 1,000 ton HMS. chidding fold – launched in 1983 – was involved in one such incident. It also attacked HMS off the coast of Bahrain in April 2021. penzancea ship of the same class as HMS bangorwas out of action for three months.