Walter Finch
GIBRALTAR’S Chief Minister has visited the UK’s leading nuclear-powered attack submarine while it is laid up in dock during a time of heightened naval tensions in the Strait.
Fabian Picardo visited HMS Astute as it underwent repairs in the Gibraltar dockyard, which he called ‘her home away from home in the Mediterranean.’
“A real pleasure to visit HMS Astute whilst she was alongside this week at Gibraltar,” Picardo wrote on X.
“Fair winds and following seas, dear friends and thank you for everything you do to keep us safe. Come back soon!”
The state-of-the-art nuclear submarine, capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles and circumnavigating the globe without surfacing, arrived in port on November 23.
Local observers have noted unusual activity around the vessel, including nighttime work illuminated by powerful spotlights and the arrival of a specialised technician from what is believed to be Naples, travelling on an American aircraft.
Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours both the UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Lyme Bay and the British Ministry of Defence’s roll-on-roll-off strategic sealift ship MV Anvil Point have both arrived in Gibraltar.
It follows on from the disquiet caused by the presence of the Russian spy ship Yantar, which transited the Strait on Monday – fresh from loitering around vital undersea internet cables in the Irish Sea.
On the same day, a nearby US carrier strike group featuring the Spanish Navy frigate Méndez Núñez also transited.
“There has been a flurry of naval activity in the region lately,” naval observer Michael Sanchez told the Olive Press.
“But the Strait has always been like this. in the end I think it’s mostly routine movements.”
The Yantar was detected 60km off the east coast of Ireland and 5-7km north of several subsea cables connecting Ireland and Britain.
The Russian vessel is equipped with deep-sea tracking devices and manned and unmanned mini-submarines capable of potentially cutting or tapping into undersea cables.
It is believed that on this occasion it was gathering intelligence for future sabotage missions as part of a concerted Russian effort to sabotage vital undersea infrastructure around Europe.
It follows on from the Chinese-flagged cargo ship Yi Peng 3 – with a Russian captain – suspected of deliberately damaging undersea communication cables in the Baltic Sea between November 17 and 18.
The shop dragged its anchor across the seabed for 160 kilometres, damaging two cables connecting Sweden to Lithuania and Finland to Germany.
The Yantar was most recently in the port of Algiers – one of the few countries in the Mediterranean which will permit Russian ships to dock.
Meanwhile, the Harry S Truman Carrier Strike Group – including Italian Navy frigate Carabiniere and six US warships – is in the Mediterranean heading east after joint exercises in the North Sea.
