Captain David McCourt of the Australian navy ship HMAS Kanimbla said his crew had found the mines in the Khawr Abd'Allah waterway leading to Umm Qasr.

"There are some mines leftover from the first Gulf War and others are mines that have been laid as part of the Iraqis' attempt, I guess, to prevent us getting into Umm Qasr," McCourt told public radio.

"And certainly there have been mines discovered in the last couple of days," he said.

The discovery of the mines coincided with the arrival in Umm Qasr of the British navy landing ship RFA Sir Galahad carrying 800 tonnes of water, food and medical supplies for Iraqi civilians.

The Sir Galahad docked in Umm Qasr on Friday, escorted by two US ships.

McCourt also said his crews were taking the threat of Iraqi suicide bombers using small speedboats extremely seriously.

"I think in some respects that would be one of the most prevalent threats that we could encounter and one of the most serious," he said.

"We are well aware of the threat. We have procedures we've developed and that we've practiced for that threat," he said.

Captain Peter Jones, commander of the Australian task group which comprises the Kanimbla and the frigates Anzac and Darwin, said the fear of suicide attacks had forced his troops to organize around-the-clock defensive patrols around the ships.

"There are obviously fanatics or pretty motivated people out there," he told reporters in the region.

"It is more likely to be small boats and that is why we have patrol boats there all the time running up and down."

WAR.WIRE