Strait of Hormuz: Merchant Shipping

Monday 20th July 2026 Lords Chamber

Private Notice Question

15:18

Asked by

[Lord West of Spithead]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to assist in opening the Strait of Hormuz to merchant traffic; and what advice is being given by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre to UK merchant shipping.

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Coaker) (Lab)]

My Lords, I start by paying tribute to the US service personnel killed or injured in the region recently. All our thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends.

The Government remain committed to supporting the safe and secure flow of merchant shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global trade, energy supplies and international stability. Respect for sovereignty over territorial seas and freedom of navigation are fundamental principles of international law. We stand ready to deploy the wider multinational military mission to support freedom of navigation, should conditions allow. We continue to work closely with international partners, the International Maritime Organization and the shipping industry to support the resumption of normal maritime traffic through the strait. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre continues to provide timely security information and situational awareness.

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

My Lords, we cannot allow the highly damaging closure of the Strait of Hormuz to continue indefinitely. We have two bases in the Middle East, HMS “Jufair” in Bahrain and Duqm in Oman. They were established to support our ships that were there to help the American Fifth Fleet and others in ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz stayed open, but that clearly is not happening. Does my noble friend the Minister believe that the time has come—we have the “Lyme Bay” out there, with minesweeping assets, along with HMS “Dragon”, which is a destroyer —to give more help to the Americans purely with the clearance of the straits? I am not talking about getting involved with their larger war, which one might have different views about, but those straits are so important that we cannot allow them just to be kept closed, with all the damage that that is doing to the world economy and the risk to other straits around the world.

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for his question. His Majesty’s Government are doing all that they can to see the restoration of a functional ceasefire and to bring about a de-escalation of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. As my noble friend says, the opening of the strait as an international waterway that is safe and secure is of benefit to us all. Through the multinational military mission, we continue to seek the permissive environment that would allow us to ensure that shipping had the confidence to use the Strait of Hormuz. He points to RFA “Lyme Bay” and HMS “Dragon”, which are in the region to support that permissive environment. We hope that can be brought about as soon as possible.

[Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as an honorary captain in the Royal Navy Reserve. I draw the Minister’s attention to the welfare of the seafarers in the Merchant Navy. While those ships are blocked in the straits, a lot of their seafarers have been onboard for a long time. I wonder what more His Majesty’s Government can do to support them.

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

The RFA provides a crucial service for the Royal Navy and our operations across the region and the world. My noble friend is right to point out the importance of that crew. We continue to discuss with them, their unions and their crews how we can support them in respect of their welfare, because we recognise the significance and importance of those crews.

[Lord Robathan (Con)]

My Lords, I used to deal with mines a little, in clearance and so on. What is it that we cannot do now that we used to be able to do? Can we not just clear mines as we used to do, or is that too difficult?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

That is an interesting question. I will talk about the way in which the Royal Navy is developing. It used to be that the provision of a mine-hunting ship was the way in which mine-hunting activity was conducted. In looking for an expression of power and symbolism, a mine-hunter still has a role to play, and we still have mine-hunting ship capability. However, as you can see with the development of RFA “Lyme Bay” and the protection that HMS “Dragon” provides for it, should that permissive environment come forward, RFA “Lyme Bay” is the future of providing the mine-hunting capability that the noble Lord rightly points to. We have a big platform upon which there are numerous uncrewed systems, weapons and so on that we can use above, on or under the water. In this case, they provide a real, modern capability and capacity, working with our friends and allies, to deal with mines and to help in respect of the mine clearance.

[Baroness Smith of Newnham (LD)]

My Lords, in two of his answers the Minister has talked about conditions being right and there being consensus, but is not part of the problem that we need to be working now with the United States in particular to persuade it to look for a way that will create those conditions? While the attacks go on between Iran and the United States, the conditions are not going to be there and the problem is not going to be resolved. What conversations are His Majesty’s Government having with the United States?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point. We continue to speak to the Americans and discuss with them how we can see an operational and functioning ceasefire restored. The memorandum of understanding worked for a time and we saw an increase in the number of ships using the Strait of Hormuz. From memory, I think that, before the conflict, some 130 ships were using the strait per day; after the memorandum of understanding was signed and was seen to be operating for a number of days, between 20 and 30 ships were using it. That has reduced for obvious reasons—yesterday, there was one ship. Getting a situation in place which has the confidence of all the nations that use the Strait of Hormuz, as a functioning arrangement between Iran and the United States, is clearly in all our interests. We have certainly talked to the Americans about how we might support them in the re-establishment of that.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, on the “Today” programme I heard an American former defence expert saying that the US-Iran war had got to such a point that the only thing for the Americans to do was to bomb for the next month. What is the Minister’s view?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

We have always said that any support that we have given to the Americans has been for defensive purposes. As the noble and learned Baroness will know, we have continually called for a ceasefire, as it initially was, the maintenance of the memorandum of understanding and the de-escalation of activity by any nation. We stand by that.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not the case that we need to be realistic that the greatest military power in the world cannot put enough arms in that area to resolve the present conflict and the only way this is going to be resolved is by discussion and debate? Does the Minister agree that we need to increase that dialogue?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I agree. The point we continue to make to our friends and allies in the region, and to the Americans, is that, in the end, dialogue, discussion and an agreement acceptable to all are what we all need to work towards. My noble friend is right to point that out, and we will continue to do all we can to bring that about.

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, it has been reported that the new Prime Minister supports increasing foreign aid spending back up to 0.7% of GDP. The Government have previously confirmed that all the money saved from cutting aid spending has been allocated to the Ministry of Defence. If the United Kingdom wishes to assist in opening the Strait of Hormuz in a meaningful way then our Armed Forces must, as all noble Lords have said, receive the necessary funds and assets. Can the Minister confirm that, if foreign aid spending is increased, the money will not be taken from the defence budget?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I can confirm that it has been government policy for a considerable period to restore aid, as and when the conditions allow, to 0.7%. There is nothing new in that. I heard what the Prime Minister said about his commitment to defence in his speech, so we will see what happens. As I say, it is government policy, as it stands, to restore aid to 0.7% and the Prime Minister made clear his commitment to defence in the remarks he made outside Downing Street. I think that is the answer for the noble Lord.

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)]

My Lords, will the Minister confirm that, for nearly 30 years after the signature and entry into force of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—to which we all subscribe and which considers the Strait of Hormuz to be an international waterway—it was possible to sustain that in the face of Iran not so agreeing, but not by using force? Could that not be an element in a diplomatic approach to this which would cover the extremely important issue of Iran’s nuclear programmes as well, both of which need to be resolved if there is to be peace and security in that region?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes an interesting and important point. The commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is an important restatement of the fundamental principle, not only in the Middle East but across the world, of the freedom of navigation. It is an extremely important point and the noble Lord is right to remind us of it. That remains our policy objective with respect to the Strait of Hormuz. It is an international waterway; it should be free and the freedom of navigation should operate there. On the noble Lord’s other point about nuclear, I reread the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States, and, for me, that could have been followed through to start addressing many issues, including the nuclear issue that he referred to.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, my question follows on from that of the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss. I stress that I am asking not for any operational information but for a general statement. Are UK bases and UK military assets being used by US forces in the continuing attacks on Iran. Specifically, were they used in the attack on the nuclear power plant under construction at Darkhovin?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I do not often do this, but let me read the advice that I have had about UK bases involved in recent strikes, because I need to be clear that I am getting it right. The noble Baroness said in her opening remark why I would do this, so let me read the points. Our position on this has been consistent. The Government took a decision in Britain’s national interest not to get involved in the initial phase. We have acted in defence of our allies, including by approving the US to use our bases for the specific defensive and limited purposes of destroying Iran’s missiles at source. We remain in close communication with the US, including on our efforts to support the restoration of freedom of navigation through the strait, through our independent and defensive mission.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, none the less, the military personal in those bases in Oman and Bahrain will be at some degree of risk. What reassurance can the Minister give the House? When I visited Bahrain and Kuwait with HMS “Cumberland” through the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, I was immensely impressed by the work that they do there, so how can we keep them safe?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

The reassurance that I can give to the noble Baroness and to the people she knows is this. I can talk about the Ministry of Defence. Meetings have taken place across government, but I personally have met virtually every week with either defence attachés or the ambassadors from the region to talk to them. We have responded to their requests for help and support with respect to their own countries. Doing that helps to support the defence of our own personnel, whether that be people who are living there or our own Armed Forces personnel. I hope that gives the noble Baroness some reassurance that there is continued discussion with and involvement of the ambassadors, reflecting the opinions of their Governments. That is an important way in which we have tried to reassure not only the region but our people there as well.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, to add to an already very serious situation, is the Minister aware that the Houthis have now launched a naval blockade against the Saudis? What assessment has his department made of the impact that will have on not just Saudi maritime traffic but wider maritime traffic, including our own vessels?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes an important point. That takes us to the other side of the situation, and the so-called Bab strait, which is a narrow strait on the other side—the western side, if you like—of where we are talking about, rather than the Strait of Hormuz. All I can say is that we keep these things under review and an assessment is currently being made, as I understand it, of the perceived or current threat, and what we may or may not need to do about that.