Gibraltar has extended port facilities to be able to handle more ships carrying goods in case Britain leaves the European Union without an agreement, the British territory’s maritime minister said on Friday.
There have been concerns that Gibraltar’s open land border with Spain would be affected by Brexit, especially given long- running tensions with Spain, which claims sovereignty over it.
After undergoing infrastructure work, Gibraltar’s port could handle a greater volume from container ships and other vessels bringing in food and medicine, Minister Gilbert Licudi told Reuters.
He added that lorries Gibraltar could exit by ferry to the nearby Spanish Port of Algeciras if administrative checks increased at the land border.
Gibraltar, the leading ship refueling hub in the Mediterranean, is not in the EU’s customs union or bound by the bloc’s VAT or excise rules, which is likely to alleviate some of the problems that the British mainland could face.
Ships that call into Gibraltar for bunker supplies, crew changes do not do so because we are an EU port but because we are a convenient, safe, reliable port for those services. We expect cruise companies to continue to come to Gibraltar, Brexit or no Brexit,
…he noted.
