Gib agencies strengthen maritime cooperation in joint training exercise

The Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron coordinated a joint maritime exercise with the Royal Gibraltar Police, the Gibraltar Defence Police and HM Customs recently, enhancing inter-agency cooperation and refining tactical skills in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.

The Gibraltar Squadron assigned HMS Dagger and two Pacific 24 Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) to the exercise. VC7 of the GDP, HMC Searcher of HM Customs and Bravo 3 of the RGP then formed the remainder of the Task Force.

Sailing from the naval base in Gibraltar, the units assembled within Admiralty Waters to hone their abilities to move in close formation and allow an opportunity to capture some spectacular imagery.

I

Focusing on developing understanding between how each organisation operates at sea, two officers from RNGS embarked on HMC Searcher and the Bravo 3 to gain valuable insight.

“Blessed by good weather and a calm sea, the newly formed Task Group transited to the Eastern Side of Gibraltar, with HMS Dagger leading the way,” said the Ministry of Defence in a statement.

“First on the agenda was a gentle warm up for the Coxswains with a set of ‘Pacing Drills’.”

“This sees one vessel maintain her course and speed whilst another comes up from behind before paralleling them in close proximity, sometimes as close as 10 yards.”

“After a successful set of pacing drills, the Coxswains were ready to further test their boat handling skills, with the next exercise being ‘Riding Off’ training.”

“This is a more aggressive manoeuvre, used to compel another vessel off her course and away from the area.”

“The Coxswains would use their prior experience in pacing before making gentle contact and applying pressure to the ship’s side, forcing it into a turn.”

“A manoeuvre designed to prevent illicit activity; it is here that the Coxswains reaped some serious training benefit.”

Building on the exercise conducted in October 2024 and the pacing and riding off exercises, the vessels were now ready for the final test; tasked with protecting a simulated high value asset.

Taking station either side of HMS Dagger, the RNGS and GDP RHIBs were poised to defend against their friends’ now turned enemies, HMC Searcher and Bravo 3.

“With some impressive tactical manoeuvring from both sides, the Coxswains used a mixture of pacing and riding off at speed to ensure HMS Dagger remained unscathed, being quite literally pushed to their limits,” said the statement.

On completion of the different exercises, the units commenced a transit back to the naval base in formation.

Lt Cdr Davies, the Commanding Officer of HMS Dagger and INTEROP co-ordinator said it has been a real privilege to build on the first successful Inter-Op that occurred last year.

“Although pacing and riding off are routine training for RNGS, the ability to do it with vessels outside our organisation provides huge training benefit,” he said.

“The addition of the protection exercises really tested our Coxswains and I’m confident they came away with heightened skills and importantly, big smiles on their faces.”

“Outside of improving our operational capability, these exercises also go a long way to reassure Gibraltarians that our presence on the water is significant and government organisations can co-operate effectively if required.”

Planning is already underway for the next exercise which will see the units carry out more complex serials with the RNGS and GDP looking to commence monthly training.