Coalition Rushes to Clear Mines in Iraq
ABOARD THE USS PONCE, 1 apr 03 (AP)--
By Matthew Rosenberg

(Note from the USCBL: Sea mines are not banned by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.)

Ships, divers, helicopters and dolphins are all here looking for the same thing — mines that are clogging the waters of southern Iraq (news - web sites) and blocking aid shipments.

The first boatload of supplies arrived last week at the strategic southern port of Umm Qasr, but a naval officer acknowledged Monday that navigating the surrounding waterways still poses dangers to regular aid convoys.

“There's still a lot of work to do,” said Royal Navy Cmdr. Brian Mair, one of the officers heading up the U.S.-led coalition's mine-clearing efforts. “If you don't want mistakes and accidents to happen, you have to be slow and methodical.”

Clearing a safe path to Umm Qasr is key to securing southern Iraq and creating a foothold for the rest of country. It is Iraq's only deep-water port, and coalition forces hope to make it the center for distributing humanitarian relief.

In prewar days, Umm Qasr was the main entry point for supplies bought through the U.N.-administered Oil-for-Food Program. An estimated 3 million tons of grain, 1 million tons of dry foods, and 750,000 containers came through the port every year.

War has now disrupted that flow and aid agencies are warning of a potential humanitarian crisis in Iraq, where a dozen years of economic sanctions have left some 60 percent of the country's 27 million people dependent on government rations.

Before the shipments to Umm Qasr can resume, however, the treacherous Khor Abdallah channel, leading from the Persian Gulf to the port, must be completely swept of boat-sinking mines.

British, American and Australian clearing teams have already been at it for more than a week. So far, they have largely cleared a 400-yard-wide path along the 40-mile-channel. The British supply ship RFA Sir Galahad docked there last Friday and unloaded the first military shipment of relief aid — 100 tons of water and 150 tons of rice, lentils, cooking oil, tomato paste, chick peas, sugar, powdered milk, and tea.

But Mair said it would be “some time” before the port can be considered safe, stressing that it is probably impossible to ensure that all mines have been cleared. The coalition's aim is to clear 90 percent of the mines, he said.

Mair wouldn't speculate on how many mines might be out there, but said coalition forces had destroyed “quite a lot” of them since clearing efforts started shortly after Iraqi forces were pushed from Umm Qasr.

Mair helps coordinate the tactics used in clearing mines from the USS Ponce, an amphibious support ship in the Persian Gulf.

The first line of defense are mine clearing ships — six of them British, four American — that blanket the seas with powerful sonar searching for unusual objects.

Many mines use magnetic triggers, so the ships are made from nonmagnetic materials, like plastic, fiberglass and phosphor bronze. To cut down on the threat of mines set off by sounds or vibrations, the ships are designed to be extremely quiet.

Once an object is found, divers or remote-controlled vehicles are sent to check it out. If it appears to be a mine or unexploded ordnance divers place an explosive on it and blow it up.

Helicopters can also hunt for mines by dragging a "sled" through the water behind them. The sleds create a magnetic field and produce sounds and vibrations similar to those of a ship. The idea is to trigger mines planted on the seabed.

And of course, there are the mine-hunting dolphins — a total of nine in the region — specially trained to use their natural sonar to root out the deadly underwater bombs.

So far, the dolphins are getting rave reviews.

“The lord God decided to give them the best sonar ever devised,” Mair said. “We can only aspire to their ability.”

Copyright © 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.