GIBRALTAR’S port denied Spanish press reports that it was refuelling Russian ships and said it was ‘applying stricter rules than any EU or UK port’.
The Spanish press reports alleged that Russia was “evading European sanctions with ships in Gibraltar” but this was never further from the truth, authorities claimed.
Gibraltar clarified that fuel suppliers topped up two tankers that then passed on the fuel to Russian ships themselves once they got to international waters off Ceuta.
But the Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) claimed they did this ‘without express permission of the Captain of the Port’.
It said in a statement they ‘were in fact empty tankers, flagged in third countries, not arriving from Russia, with no indication of any Russian interest’.
“Since January 2013 Gibraltar forbids its port operators and service providers from directly or indirectly effecting or providing services for ship-to-ship transfers of any kind outside British Gibraltar Territorial Waters,”
“It further prohibits the exportation of fenders and associated equipment from Gibraltar in support of operations outside BGTW without express permission of the Captain of the Port and the Minister with responsibility for the Port.”
Gibraltar’s forbids refuelling on ships flying a Russian flag or are registered, owned, chartered or operated by Russia.
It even blocks refuelling of ships that have a Russian cargo or are destined for Russia or companies connected with Russia.
“This ruling follows the sanctions on Russia imposed by the Government of Gibraltar in line with UK policy and in fact goes well beyond sanctions in this regard,” said the GPA.
“Today Russian owned or connected vessels are still able to access ports of the EU or UK.
“Morocco, on the other hand, has no sanctions in place against Russia.”
Last year, Gibraltar seized a yacht owned by a Russian oligarch and auctioned it off in September 2022.
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