Australia rules out sending naval ships to Strait of Hormuz
The Straits Times
This comes as the US seeks allied support to protect one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes. Read more at straitstimes.com.
CANBERRA – Australia has ruled out deploying naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz as the US seeks allied support to protect one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes amid the widening Middle East conflict.
“I’m informed that we’re not intending to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz,” Ms Catherine King, Minister for Transport and Infrastructure and a member of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Cabinet, told Australian Broadcasting radio on March 16.
She added: “We’re well prepared here in this country to weather the economic crisis that is occurring as a result of the Middle East, but we’re not planning to send a ship.”
The US and Iran have signalled no let-up in a conflict that has brought shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz – a narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula that carries about a fifth of global oil supplies – to a near standstill and upended energy markets.
US President Donald Trump has urged other countries to send warships to keep open the key artery but offered no specifics or commitments from the US side.
Mr Trump said he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain would take part.
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