Maritime presence as a response to ship seizures

What can a navy do about repeated ship boardings and internments by Iran?

Maintain visible, crewed presence in the area; reacting later is ineffective, while a ship and helicopter already on station can deter or intervene.

A navy cannot reliably undo a ship seizure after the boarding party has control. Effective protection therefore depends on being present at the moment a state attempts to stop or detain merchant traffic. A crewed offshore patrol vessel can challenge the action directly, while a crewed helicopter adds reach and responsiveness around the ship. An unmanned aircraft may observe the incident, but an opponent can destroy it while calculating that the loss alone will not trigger a war. The proposed British presence combines an OPV, a frigate such as a Type 23 or Type 31, and aviation support. Even a modest patrol ship has strategic utility when the mission depends on visible human authority at the point of contact.