Peter Aylott
2K posts
@aylott_peter
Executive leadership with experience of maritime, offshore energy and fisheries. Special interest in education and training especially vocational outputs
The U.S. Navy doesn’t understand how resilient oil tankers are, according to comments from former CENTCOM commander in this TWZ interview. It’s surprising and not. USN rarely deals with commercial shipping issues. But could be why we’re still talking about naval escorts rather than air power to reopen Hormuz. Here’s Votel’s comments: “But the mines, I think, are a really, really hard issue. And when we think about one of these big tankers, so they are just really vulnerable, they’re thin-hulled, getting into this very narrow traffic scheme that’s there – two miles wide, right in the middle of the Strait and then hitting a mine and being disabled on the spot. Not only will we have a mine problem, we have a disabled ship problem and an ecological disaster, and a whole bunch of other things there. So in my view, I think the worst case situation kind of looks like a deliberate mining effort by the Iranians.” Wrong info: —Oil tankers today have double hulls, neither thin nor vulnerable. But even when tankers had single hulls during the Iran-Iraq war, they were so resilient to mines that U.S. navy destroyers sailed BEHIND the tankers for protection. *The tankers protected the destroyers from mines.* —The narrowest navigable passage is 20 miles, not 2 miles. The traffic lanes are 2 miles wide to reduce accidents in a congested waterway, but it’s not a physical barrier. It’s like the difference between the physical width of a whole highway vs. the lanes painted for cars. Tankers can sail outside the lines for 20 miles. Multiple disabled tankers couldn’t block the strait. To be fair, Votel called it a traffic scheme but I think this point is easily misunderstood. —Spilling oil isn’t ecologically good, obvs, but oil cargoes in VLCCs are stored in 15-17 different cells (depending on ship design) and if you rupture one, you only spill its contents — maybe ~120,000 barrels — on a total cargo of 2 million barrels. Still not good but not total emptying. —Even ruptured tankers, even incinerated tankers, usually stay afloat and can often be repaired so they can sail away under their own power. That happened with the MV Limburg off the coast of Yemen in 2002. It was struck by a suicide boat, lost 50k barres of oil and burned for 2 days. On day 3 it was repaired and sailed away on its own power. It was subsequently renamed the Maritime Jewel and was in service until at least 2009. Any mission to open the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian fire would be costly and risky. But it’s shocking to me that the USN @USNavy @CENTCOM doesn’t know the basics of oil shipping when they’ve been preparing this contingency for years. They need to talk with industry, stat. The Coast Guard @USCG might have this knowledge because they DO deal with commercial shipping issues but they’re so far down the bureaucratic prestige chain I’m not sure people would listen (sorry USCG, you rock and I’m a big fan). This lack of understanding might be why the USN and U.S. policymakers keep talking about using naval escorts rather than air power, as if this was still WWII. @defpriorities @haltman twz.com/news-features/…
Options for US convoy escort op through the Strait of Hormuz. Between 8 and 12 destroyers would probably be needed, possibly up to 16. Any escort operation is not expected to start until the USS Tripoli reaches the region from Japan @FT @ModernNavy #Iran archive.is/2026.03.20-064…
RN's last operational minehunter in the Arabian Gulf, HMS Middleton, towed into Portsmouth today after being returned to Southampton on heavy lift vessel. navylookout.com/royal-navys-la… Via @PortsmouthProud
Our fishermen in Southwest Washington have spoken loud and clear—sea lions in the Columbia River are decimating our salmon and steelhead runs. My provision to explore more cost-effective and efficient ways to remove these Corolla-sized vermin from our rivers and tributaries was just signed into law. I enjoyed brainstorming with SW WA fishermen on next steps to return our runs to their former glory.
An energy minister who has no idea what he’s talking about. His price comparison is so ridiculous it’s hard to know where to start. But we can begin with this: the price he quotes for gas is a massive exaggeration to suit his renewables narrative.
@DrChrisParry @TalkTV @petercardwell @ReformUK You avoided answering the question Chris. David Lammy was born here, just as I was. Why do you think he should “go home” to the Caribbean? It doesn’t sound like you’d be a Mayor who would represent everyone in Hampshire and the Solent, irrespective of their heritage.
@piersmorgan Tell me you don't know what we did to Dresden in WW2 without telling me you don't know what we did to Dresden in WW2. Or more likely you do know, you just have different standards for Jews.
A typical commuter (travelling to work 3 days a week using flexi-season tickets) between Lincoln and Nottingham will save £114 per year.
@BenObeseJecty @oaktowers You sir have absolutely no idea about defence at all. Please do NOT opine what you do not understand
