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Date Published: 16/08/2023

UK reports Spanish customs for illegally boarding Gibraltar ship

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Spain’s officials are accused of chasing a UK vessel and restraining a British crew member

UK reports Spanish customs for illegally boarding Gibraltar ship

Spanish customs officials are in hot water again over another tussle between ships in the Bay of Gibraltar. According to authorities on the Rock, the Águila 2 vessel entered British Gibraltar Territorial Waters on Monday August 14 and gave chase to another ship before illegally boarding it and detaining a crew member.

According to Spain, the locally registered Ultimate Predator was sailing without navigational lights and with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched off. They were immediately suspicious and flagged the ship down to investigate. Several officials then boarded the vessel and reportedly restrained one person.

As a result, the Government of Gibraltar plans to lodge a formal complaint on Wednesday August 16 accusing the Spanish team of trying to carry out an executive action in British waters which is outside of their internationally recognised jurisdiction.

“The UK Government is aware of an incident on 14 August where a Spanish customs vessel conducted constabulary actions in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, which constituted an incursion and violation of UK sovereignty,” a spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.

“The UK Government will protest this incident to the Spanish Government.”

Having thoroughly searched the Ultimate Predator, Spain’s custom’s team said it was satisfied that the vessel was actually “carrying out a legitimate crew transfer to a merchant ship” and that its navigational lights and AIS had simply malfunctioned.

In the middle of the fracas, the Gibraltar Customs Service and the Ministry of Defence Police came to the aid of the boarded ship and a spokesperson for the ministry later confirmed that “one of the crew members of the Gibraltar vessel appears to have been illegally restrained by a Spanish operative.”

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said that this incident was “unacceptable.”

“The Spanish officers in question have potentially committed offences against Gibraltar law and I am asking that the matter must be forcefully raised with Spain,” he concluded.

In other news: Showers turned off on Cadiz beaches

Image: Verdemar Ecologistas En Accion

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