Sea mines are disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran warns vessels away. Here’s how these mines pose such a serious global threat.

With fuel and freight prices skyrocketing as war chokes the Strait of Hormuz, the Panama Canal is seeing more business than usual.

The U.S. said it had destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying ships amid fears Tehran could deploy hundreds of mines to effectively booby-trap the critical shipping lane.

The Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway used to carry shipments of oil to countries around the world, is a point of contention amid the U.S.-Iran War.

Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf channel that carries 20 percent of the world’s oil, according to U.S. officials, an effort that could further complicate American efforts to restart shipping there.

The strike appears to have come without warning, and shows that Iran and its proxies can target ships even without mining the Strait of Hormuz.

The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

A Turkish-owned ship that had been waiting near ​Iran was allowed to pass ‌through the Strait of Hormuz after authorities received permission from Tehran, ​Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir ​Uraloglu was reported as saying by ⁠local media.

Iran is using smaller crafts to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz, two U.S. officials said.

The vessels targeted in Wednesday's late-night attacks in the Gulf near Iraq were the Marshall ​Islands-flagged Safesea Vishnu and the Malta-flagged Zefyros, which had loaded fuel cargoes in Iraq, two Iraqi port officials said.

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to shipping because of the war against Iran by the U.S. and Israel.