This occurred to me in the 80s during the last attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz. Since the mines used were, according to press reports, primitive WWI-type tether mines, and not complicated magnetic or acoustic mines, why weren't the tankers and warships rigged up with paravane gear, which certainly was not high tech, and could be easily mass produced? It seems to me this would have been an uncomplicated, and fast solution.

Now we are faced with the same dilemma. Why not use paravanes? What am I missing?