MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Gibraltar has a new police patrol boat to match the Guardia Civil.
A very wet naming and blessing ceremony of the Sir William Jackson (*) took place on Tuesday the 19th of February at 3.30pm at the Royal Gibraltar Police Marine Section at Coaling Island. Speaking at the ceremony Commissioner Eddie Yome thanked HM Government of Gibraltar for continuing to invest in providing assets to the RGP. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesThis is much needed. I was in Gibraltar recently and the harassment of innocent sailboats in Gibraltar waters by the Spanish Guarda Civil patrol boats is outrageous. In my opinion, Britain should deploy a frigate to stop the harassment.
Feb 20th, 2013 - 09:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0Is that a through water hull? I'd expect a GRP vessel to be a planing hull - and with all that power cruise at much more than 22 knots. My boat would leave that for dead on a flat sea - but probably wouldn't last long if it was fired upon.
Feb 20th, 2013 - 10:22 am - Link - Report abuse 0Sounds just right, it can operate in all weathers not like plastic pleasure boats that head straight for port in any sort of bad weather. And a rib to board any unwelcome intruders too. A mini version of our customs patrol vessels. That should keep the Spaniards at bay!
Feb 20th, 2013 - 11:09 am - Link - Report abuse 0And when it gets in the rough in the straights at speed,wind against the tide in a force 8, it will be called “Bowl-action Jackson” !
Feb 20th, 2013 - 12:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Spain has been very quiet lately,
Feb 20th, 2013 - 07:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Since the protests and sit ins to demand the government be more pro-active against the Spanish, and take action,
Perhaps Spain, is waiting for things to quiet down.
@5 Nah! Spain doesn't have that much intelligence. The Spanish “government ”may have, possibly, one IQ point more than the argie “government”. Although I'm more inclined to believe that they have a competition to see who can be more stupid. Let's face it. The Spanish “government” has NOTHING. The Spanish “government”, like the argie “government”, refuses to go to the ICJ. “We'll only go if we're guaranteed to win” they whinge. Both of them. Simple responses. Argieland - arrest any vessel or aircraft that enters Falklands EEZ. If they refuse arrest, sink them or shoot them down. Remove personnel to UK for trial and imprisonment. Spain - arrest any vessel or aircraft that enters Gibraltar territorial waters or contiguous airspace. Same action if they refuse arrest. Remove to UK for trial and imprisonment. There will ALWAYS be imprisonment because the outcome of the “trial” will be predetermined. Minimum sentence of 15 years. No remission. No early release. Each sentence to include hard labour in secret establishments. Convicted criminals and pirates will simply “disappear”. For the whole period of the (undisclosed) sentence.
Feb 20th, 2013 - 08:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 06 Conqueror
Feb 20th, 2013 - 09:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0i fully agree with you.
We should look at Spain's “claims” to Gibraltar. Gibraltar was captured by an Anglo-Dutch force in 1704. It was ceded to Britain, in perpetuity, by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Demonstrating typical “latino” good faith and honesty, Spain attempted to get Gibraltar back on a number of occasions. The siege of 1727 was one and the Great Siege of Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783 was another. Interestingly, in January 1727, the Spanish declared the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht relating to Gibraltar to be null and void! The Great Siege, incidentally, was the fourteenth Spanish siege of Gibraltar. Following WW2, dictator Franco assumed that the UN “decolonisation” process would enable Spain to recover Gibraltar. He was, of course, wrong. In September 1967, Gibraltar held a referendum. 12,138 voters opted to remain with Britain. 44 supported union with Spain. Moderately conclusive! The next “siege” took place between 1954 and 1985. And in 1985, Gibraltar was still British! By 2002 there was a new concept of “shared sovereignty” that led to the 2002 referendum. It was rejected by 17,000 votes to 187. Spain's current attempts centre around British Gibraltar territorial waters (BGTW) stating that the Treaty of Utrecht makes no mention of Gibraltar territorial waters. Regrettably, the Treaty doesn't mention Spanish territorial waters either. So we must assume that they don't exist! BUT, in 1982, “territorial waters” were finally defined and internationally agreed. UNCLOS! So Gibraltar got “territorial waters” when Spain did. 1982! Spain knows this. It's why it won't go to the ICJ. What is a “reasonable” response to an unauthorised, foreign intrusion to one's territory? Arrest? Prosecution? Imprisonment? Destruction? Difficult to say why the British government is holding back. I favour just ONE case where an intruder is arrested, prosecuted and sent to prison. After that? Jet skis, dinghies, power boats, fishing boats, “state” vessels? One warning and then DESTROY them!
Feb 21st, 2013 - 06:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0QEClassCarriers
Feb 21st, 2013 - 09:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Side by side. Fwd island at the dockside. Preparations underway for it to be lifted onto ship in next few weeks
https://twitter.com/QEClassCarriers/status/304591576712237057/photo/1
looks great side by side.
soon, this may well pop into gibralter harbour.
its only a matter of time.
They would look impressive to sail them both into Gibraltar Harbour, but it wouldn't be a terribly good plan.
Feb 22nd, 2013 - 10:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0The QE class has a draft of 11m and I think that the maximum draft for the harbour is just under 10m
I'm not sure about the harbour depth, but most of Gibraltar Bay has a depth exceeding 20 meters and much of it is 60-80 meters. The tidal range is about a meter, with some dredging, it might be possible to use the harbour.
Feb 22nd, 2013 - 12:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Anyway, there is no need for an aircraft carrier to show the flag in Gib. A frigate would suffice.
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