A Royal Navy warship that was made from plastic rather than metal to avoid triggering mines was due to set sail to the Gulf from its base at Faslane.
HMS Ramsey was made from glass-reinforced plastic so can get near mines where other Navy ships cannot.
The 600-tonne Sandown class minehunter is used to clear safe passages as it does not send out the signals that metal vessels do.
It is heading east of the Suez Canal, where it will stay for four years.
The relatively small vessel, measuring only 52-metres in length, also carries some of the most modern sonar equipment in the world.
Its hull does not trigger the sophisticated echoes sent out by modern mines, but it can find the mines and clear the way for other larger warships to follow.
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Lees verder: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-13351105
Bron: BBC
