MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Spain and Morocco to monitor Gibraltar Strait traffic; UK side-lined

IMO gave preliminary approval to the joint initiative by Spain and Morocco and delegates from over 50 countries agreed changes would help improve navigational safety in the strait

Britain has been side-lined from a proposal to change the mandatory reporting system for ships sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar, despite its jurisdiction over Gibraltar and the surrounding waters, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) gave preliminary approval to the joint initiative by Spain and Morocco and delegates from over 50 countries - including the UK itself - agreed that the changes would help improve navigational safety in this area.

But for British officials there was one important problem with the plan: it was drafted without their input. In effect, Spain and Morocco failed to acknowledge Britain’s voice in maritime issues affecting this region.

Although the focus of the proposal is purely technical, there are underlying political issues at stake. The Gibraltar Government, which had raised concerns with the UK about this proposal, is keeping a close eye on developments at the IMO, the United Nations’ maritime body.

“Our status as a geographically interested, regional player has got to be acknowledged,” said Chief Minister Peter Caruana in an interview late July.

“The IMO, which is the international community for shipping and navigation purposes, shouldn’t get to think of the Strait of Gibraltar as being a place where there are only two jurisdictions.”

“There are three jurisdictions and it’s important for that reason.”

At a meeting last July, British officials told delegates at the IMO’s Subcommittee on Safety of Navigation that Britain should have been consulted while the proposal was being drafted.

They said there had been “no effective cooperation” between the three governments which each had “a common interest” in this area, according to the official record of the meeting.

The UK asked Spain and Morocco to withdraw the proposal and draft a revised, “fully collaborative” version with British input. But Spanish officials countered that the UK had had seven weeks to comment on the proposal prior to the meeting and had not done so, choosing instead to flag its concerns at the final plenary session.

They said the subcommittee’s remit was purely technical and that in this respect, the proposal was sound.

The subcommittee agreed and approved the scheme as presented by Spain and Morocco, noting the UK’s reservations.

It will now be rubber-stamped at a full meeting of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee next year, though changes are possible between now and then.

“We hope to have our concerns properly reflected in the text,” one British official told the Gibraltar Chronicle.

The proposal – as approved by the IMO – will change the current system in place and should be implemented by the end of next year.

At present, all ships sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar are obliged to report to a vessel monitoring station in Tarifa. Once the new system is in place, however, all ships sailing into the Mediterranean will report to a new vessel monitoring station in Tangier, while all outbound ships will continue reporting to Tarifa.

In practice, it means Spain and Morocco will share the task of monitoring shipping through the Strait. The traffic separation scheme – which creates lanes for east and westbound ships to avoid collisions - will remain unchanged.