Upgrade for Gibraltar naval station

The Royal Navy’s Gibraltar naval station is set to be upgraded under a £2 million programme to improve its ability to monitor the movement of vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Windmill Hill Signal Station will be partially rebuilt and expanded over the coming 12 months, with extra and improved monitoring equipment installed.

The facility visually and electronically monitors the 60,000 vessels that enter or leave the Mediterranean, or cross between Africa and Europe through the Strait of Gibraltar, each year.

Now under Joint Force Command the station is largely staffed by Royal Navy personnel.

Commander British Forces Gibraltar, Commodore Mike Walliker, said: ‘The facelift that we are giving over the next few months means that the first-class support that the Rock has provided to the many tens of thousands of ships of all shapes, sizes and nationalities which all - annually - navigate through one of, if not the most important maritime choke-points, will improve and be second to none.

‘Equally - and importantly - today serves as a warning and a reminder to all those who wish to use this narrow and congested stretch of water for criminal or nefarious activity.’