Shipping in Gibraltar is important because of Gibraltar's strategic position on one side of the entrance to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. The Strait of Gibraltar is a globally important shipping lane. Gibraltar has become a place known for its expertise with shipping and it has annually 7,000 ship calls.Gibraltar Port Authority - Maritime services

Services

Gibraltar offers a wide range of specialist services including

bunkering Bunkering is the supplying of fuel for use by ships (such fuel is referred to as bunker), including the logistics of loading and distributing the fuel among available shipboard tanks. A person dealing in trade of bunker (fuel) is called a bun ...

to dry dock services at

Gibdock Gibdock is a shipyard in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It formerly operated as a Royal Navy Dockyard. Royal Navy Dockyard HM Dockyard, Gibraltar was first developed in the 18th century. After the Capture of Gibraltar, victuall ...

. The main activity is bunkering with over four million tonnes of heavy petroleum fuel (

bunker fuel Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), ...

) delivered each year (based on 2011). Gibraltar claims to be amongst the largest Mediterranean

ports. Approximately 60% of the 10,000 vessels who stopped at Gibraltar in 2011 were bunkered.Gibraltar Port Authority - Bunkering
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References

Water transport in Gibraltar

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