MoD will use Gib drydocks as needed, but no long-term plans at present
A large commercial cable laying vessel is pictured entering dry dock in Gibraltar earlier this week. The yard was the subject of a question on defence use in the House of Lords on Tuesday. Photo by Johnny Bugeja
The UK’s Ministry of Defence will use dry dock facilities in Gibraltar as required by specific needs but has no current plan or policy for future commercial arrangements with the yard.
The position was set out in a parliamentary response by Lord Coaker, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, following a question in the House of Lords from Labour peer Lord West of Spithead, a former First Sea Lord who also served as Commander in Chief Fleet and Chief of Defence Intelligence.
Lord West asked the UK Government “…what assessment they have made of whether use of dry docks in Gibraltar shipyard could ease present and future docking bottlenecks.”
The question comes after Gibdock, the company that operates the Gibraltar yard, carried out maintenance work on several Royal Navy ships including offshore patrol vessels in recent years.
“The docking capacity to undertake upkeep on submarines and warships is the subject of ongoing analysis as part of the Royal Navy's planning process [and] the Naval Support Integrated Global Network programme is an integral part of this,” Lord Coaker replied.
“While the dry dock facilities in Gibraltar have recently been used for maintenance of offshore patrol vessels, there is no current plan or policy for the use of Gibraltar in commercial arrangements in the future.”
“The facilities will generally be utilised when there is a specific operational or commercial need.”