Service boat movements suspended after ships collide

30 Aug 2022 / Gibraltar

From 13.30 hours local time today (30 August) until further notice, all service boat movements to anchorage and OPL are suspended.

This follows a collision between two ships in the Bay in the early hours of the morning, which left one of the vessels stranded in front of the beach of Catalan Bay. Port operations were suspended for approximately 4 hours during the initial stages of the operation , but Gibraltar Port has now fully reopened for all activity.

Only service boats currently engaged with the incident on the east side will be allowed to operate.

The Gibraltar Port Authority remains at the scene and is continuously reviewing all aspects of the situation. A 200m exclusion zone has been established around the stranded vessel.

According to a Gibraltar Port Authority press release, a specialist team of marine salvors from the Netherlands is due to arrive in Gibraltar this afternoon to conduct a full on-site assessment. Weather conditions are forecast to be good in the coming days, which will assist in operations.

The Gibraltar Port Authority currently has 2 tugs and 3 service craft deployed to the scene, assisted by Salvamento Maritimo, and are ready to react to any incident that may develop.

The Port of Algeciras is working in close coordination with the Gibraltar Port Authority, and has also been authorised to deploy assets, including a Salvamento Maritimo helicopter to undertake an aerial survey.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Gibraltar contact GAC Gibraltar at [email protected]

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.