When Egyptian President Anwar Sadat agreed to reopen the Suez Canal in 1974 after seven years of closure, the physical job of clearing the waterway took a full year. It required an international fleet of minesweeping ships, helicopters, and explosive ordnance divers led by the United States. The parallels with today's Strait of Hormuz standoff are hard to miss.
Former British Royal Navy officer Alexander Wooley has drawn the comparison in the Washington Post, "Hvylya" reports. He argues that Trump's demand for a quick reopening runs headlong into the reality of mine clearance. At least 14 ships were trapped in the Suez for seven years. When the canal finally reopened in June 1975, Sadat called it "the happiest day in my life."
Trump initially gave Iran 48 hours to reopen the strait, then extended the deadline to April 6. But the historical precedent suggests the timeline will stretch far beyond any presidential ultimatum. Shipping companies will want assurance that clearing operations are complete before sending tankers through, given that a mine strike below the waterline poses a greater sinking risk than a drone or missile hit.
The Suez analogy may understate the challenge. The Suez Canal is a contained waterway where mines can be systematically located. The Strait of Hormuz opens into the broader Persian Gulf, and Iran has threatened to scatter mines throughout the area. U.S. intelligence officials reportedly suspect mines have already been placed beneath the strait.
Seawater is notoriously difficult to see through, making it hard to find small objects sometimes buried into the seabed. And unlike the 1974 effort, the Western navies that would lead clearance operations have far fewer minesweeping ships than they once did. The work, Wooley wrote, remains "slow and tedious" even with modern remotely operated systems.
Also read: How the Iran war has dealt Egypt a triple economic blow through lost Suez Canal revenue.