The Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom has presented a project to the Government of Gibraltar for dredging the military port and redeveloping the infrastructure at South Mole to serve warships docking at the Rock and enable Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers to reach the Rock, as revealed by Navy Lookout, a specialised military affairs magazine.
The mentioned expansion aims to strengthen Gibraltar's status as a strategic base in the Mediterranean for the Royal Navy at a time when negotiations between Spain and the United Kingdom for the signing of a security and defence agreement are suspended due to the interim Spanish government.
This agreement is seen as a key element in the post-Brexit era and includes "confidence-building measures" concerning the British military base in Gibraltar, a continuous source of tension between the two countries, as well as other elements such as the fight against terrorism, cyber defence, and joint military missions.
The announcement of the expansion of the military pier at the Rock comes after a new incident occurred on the 3rd due to military maneuvers carried out by the United Kingdom in the sea off the eastern coast of La Línea.
The patrol vessel Isla de León (P83), based in Ceuta, was sailing towards the eastern coastline of La Línea after crossing the Bay of Algeciras when HMS Cutlass intercepted it during the exercise, as reported by the Strait observer Michael J. Sánchez on his social media.
The Spanish government warns that incidents occurring in the waters surrounding Gibraltar between British and Spanish military or police vessels "do not help" in successfully concluding an agreement that regulates the relationship between the Rock and the Campo de Gibraltar after Brexit, whose negotiations are currently suspended.
This was stated on Wednesday in Algeciras by the Government Sub-delegate in Cádiz, José Pacheco, who explained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is investigating the depth of the incident that occurred on Tuesday during military maneuvers in the waters around Gibraltar to issue a protest note to the British authorities, if necessary.
The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers (QEC) are one of the two being built for the Royal Navy. With a displacement of 65,000 tonnes, a length of 280 meters, and a beam of 73 meters, they are among the largest warships afloat, similar to Russian and Chinese aircraft carriers but smaller than American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Their hull has nine decks below the flight deck, not counting the two separate islands, making their height from keel to masthead 56 meters. They have a propulsion system consisting of two Rolls Royce gas turbines of 36 MW (48,000 hp) each and four diesel engines of 11.6 MW each, generating electricity to power the electric motors driving the propellers.
With this, the ship reaches a maximum speed of 25 knots (46 km/h) and has a range of 10,000 nautical miles (about 19,000 kilometres). Inside, there are accommodations, work areas, workshops, hangars, etc. for about 40 aircraft and 1,600 crew members.