Gibraltar's bunker sector
14th August 2013 12:34 GMT
Gibraltar 'will not tolerate interference with lawful bunkering'
The government of Gibraltar has warned that it "will not tolerate any attempts" to interfere with lawful bunkering in its waters. The statement came after a senior Spanish government minister said Spain would take steps to stop bunker players using floating storage.
Gibraltar said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) set the limits of 'British Gibraltar jurisdiction' in the waters around the port. "Bunkering within those limits is governed by Gibraltar laws, which already applies all relevant European Union (EU) measures," it said.
"The Spanish Government therefore knows that it has no jurisdiction to regulate bunkering operations within the territorial limits of British Gibraltar waters. "The Government confirms that it will not tolerate any attempts to interfere with lawful bunkering operations within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters."
It added that so far there had been no attempts to interfere with bunkering at sea.
Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, speaking near the Spanish port of Cadiz this week, said Spain was going to modify its "environmental legislation" to establish a framework that would "allow us to sanction companies that carry out bunkering with permanently anchored ships."
His comments come at a time of growing tension between Spain and Gibraltar over a range of issues.
A commentary in a leading Gibraltar newspaper the Gibratar Chronicle on Wednesday said that the Spanish minister's comments coincided with a drive by the neighbouring Spanish port of Algeciras to increase its share of the bunkering market in the Strait of Gibraltar.
"Algeciras has recently opened a new land-based fuel storage facility to service the bunker sector and is in the process of expanding it further. Gibraltar, where land is in high demand, must largely rely on floating storage," it said.
"In that sense, Madrid’s strategy of hitting out at Gibraltar-based operators scores commercial as well as political points."
It went on: "Maritime industry sources are reluctant to comment publicly on what they view as a political issue that must be handled sensitively by governments, not commercial companies.
"Privately however, they strongly reject longstanding Spanish claims that the use of storage vessels poses an environmental risk."
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