Overview
- Lyme Bay arrived in Limassol after completing an intensive Mediterranean work‑up and has been re‑rolled from an amphibious support ship into a dedicated mine‑warfare mothership.
- The ship left Gibraltar after fitting modifications and visited Toulon to embark French minehunting kit, including the SLAM‑F unmanned surface vehicle, and around 100 specialist mine‑warfare and diving personnel.
- Training and certification were led by Fleet Operational Standards Training instructors and covered realistic damage‑control scenarios such as fires, flooding, power failures and mock casualty treatment.
- The vessel is conducting a crew change and taking on stores in Cyprus before a possible eastern transit to base in Duqm, Oman, a move that would likely require escorting warships because of Houthi activity and recent US–Iran tensions.
- The re‑roll highlights flexible use of Royal Fleet Auxiliary assets and growing Anglo‑French interoperability in mine countermeasures, a capability aimed at reassuring commercial shipping and supporting multinational freedom‑of‑navigation operations.