In a major standoff between Spain and the U.K., a Spanish warship with its guns manned ordered commercial ships to leave British Gibraltar waters Sunday, but was challenged by the British navy and sailed away, Gibraltar said.
Royal Navy vessels were deployed after the warship’s crew were heard over a radio exchange telling commercial ships anchored at Gibraltar to “leave Spanish territorial waters,” according to the Press Association (PA).
The Spanish ship tried to order ships to leave their anchorages on the eastern side of the Rock, but the ships stayed in position, Gibraltar’s authorities said. After being challenged by the British navy, the Spanish warship then sailed slowly along the coast with its weapons uncovered and manned.
A spokesman for the British territory’s government was quoted by PA as saying, “There is only nuisance value to these foolish games being played by those who don’t accept unimpeachable British sovereignty over the waters around Gibraltar as recognized by the whole world in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
Gibraltar, a tiny piece of land on the southern tip of Spain and under British control for 300 years, is a major bone of contention between London and Madrid. The naval dispute was the latest example of tension over the strategic port as Brexit approaches.
BY DAILYSABAH NEWS
