Cruise ships berthed in Gibraltar are being warned of the dangers of a British nuclear submarine, prompting Spanish environmentalists to alert Gibraltar cruise ship passengers that they are at risk by being next to the Royal Navy nuclear powered submarine.
HMS Astute arrived in Gibraltar last week. The dockyard is situated within admiralty waters to the south of Gibraltar Harbour. In a statement, Verdemar-Ecologistas en Acción said the military port “puts the rock’s tourism sector at risk”. The group said: “Gibraltar must decide whether it wants a military port or a tourist port, the UK nuclear-powered submarine HMS Astute docking in Gibraltar’s military port on March 15 2025 puts the rock’s tourism sector at risk.”
Spanish environmentalists have long campaigned against the visit to Gibraltar of British and US nuclear submarines.
Ecologists in Action added: “We continue to protest against the arrival of these submarines that sail with a nuclear reactor and put the Strait of Gibraltar and those who live in this area at risk.
“Gibraltar’s military port is becoming an ‘X’ port, where the United Kingdom sends its submarines for repairs. This type of work on nuclear submarines in Gibraltar is endangering the population.
“We demand once and for all that Gibraltar be freed from nuclear-powered devices and other vessels that are veritable floating bombs.”
HMS Astute is the leading ship in a class of seven Royal Navy submarines, which are nuclear powered but not nuclear armed.
Gibraltar is an important staging base for the Royal Navy, hosting 79 ship visits during 2022. It’s ideal location at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea makes it a crucial base for the Royal Navy and NATO.
The waters of Gibraltar are also in a prime location, acting as a crossroads between the Mediterranean and Atlantic shipping lanes.
This unique geographic position means that the port acts as a great supply point for passing ships with approximately 60,000 vessels passing through its waters each year.
