Trawlers were traditionally requisitioned for wartime minesweeping, while modern mine countermeasures increasingly move equipment onto off-board systems such as uncrewed surface vessels. The Royal Navy's problem in this assessment is having a capable system without the ships to deploy it. A merchant conversion could provide a carrying platform. A reefer is proposed as a likely candidate, although obtaining one for this role is doubtful because commercial demand is so high.
Notable Point · 1:21:47-1:22:32
Merchant hulls can deploy off-board mine systems
Traditional minesweeping trawlers give way to uncrewed off-board systems, but navies still need suitable ships to carry, launch, and recover them.