Neither Australia nor Japan intends to send naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz to help the United States secure oil traffic through the important strait, Reuters news agency reports.
Catherine King, a minister in the Australian government, refuses to send ships to the region.
- We will not send a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important it is, but it is not something we have been asked to do or that we are contributing to, she said in an interview with the ABC television station.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also does not plan to send naval vessels to escort ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
- We have not made any decisions at all about sending escort ships, Takaichi said according to Reuters.
- We continue to examine what Japan itself can do and what can be done within the legal framework, she added.
The prime minister calls it "extremely difficult legally" to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz, writes the AFP news agency.
Trump made a clear call
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump called on countries, including Japan, to send reinforcements to the Middle East, after he had previously promised to start escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict in the region has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz. It is a strategic bottleneck for about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. Oil prices worldwide have since exploded.
Japan is the fifth largest importer of oil in the world. 95 percent of the oil comes from the Middle East, and 70 percent passes through the Strait of Hormuz, writes AFP.
Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend that he hoped that China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would send ships to the area. South Korea has not yet made a decision, writes Reuters.
According to The Guardian, the British government is hesitant to send naval vessels. The government is instead considering sending drones specifically designed to locate and destroy mines to the Strait of Hormuz, writes The Guardian.
Several American media outlets have reported that mines could either be laid in the Strait of Hormuz - or are already being placed there.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
