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Swift Secure an innocent bystander caught in Media frenzy of misinformation |
gibfocus - 16th June 2007
(2007-06-16 18:45:00 )
After a scathing attack on the local media and in particular gibfocus by La Gaceta de Negocios, gibfocus can reveal that not only was the Swift Secure an innocent bystander caught up in the Spanish misinformation campaign, but that the robotic submarine Zeus never left the Explorer.
Based on assumptions and misinterpretations of facts, a small sector in the Spanish media have wrongly claimed that the Swift Secure was part of Odyssey Marine Exploration activities in Gibraltar, leading to the boarding by Guardia Civil of the Swift Secure.
The misinterpretation seems to have originated from a misunderstanding over the local logistics at what is locally known as the Dockyard. Since the release of the naval docks by the MoD to the private sector, the southern berths within the port have been separated by a security fence which splits the waterside berths between the Ministry of Defence and a private commercial ship repair yard, Cammell Laird, with neither having any relation to the other.
Both Odyssey Alert and Odyssey Explorer have been berthed during the past weeks within the Ministry of Defence side of the fence. The Swift Secure was for its part berthed on the same waterside berthing area, but on the side of Cammell Laird. Both Ministry of Defence officials, as well as local ship repair officials, have confirmed that no activity has ever existed in which equipment or materials are passed between the two areas. The security zone was created to protect Ministry of Defence installations not allowing for such movements to take place.
Claims that the robotic submarine Zeus was transported to the Swift Secure whilst the vessels seemed to be at the same berths have not only been dismissed but confirmed to be a totally untrue.
?There is absolutely no relationship between Odyssey and the Swift Secure. While it looked that they may have docked near each other, the Swift Secure was actually docked in the Cammell Laird shipyard for some work, and Odyssey is still at the MOD docks. While they are near each other, there is no way to take any cargo or even personnel from one to the other,? confirmed a source close to Odyssey.
The same source stated that the misinterpretation of facts, and the misinformation which continues to be published in some Spanish newspapers, has ?created a costly time-consuming boarding of an innocent ship.?
These sentiments have also been expressed by British diplomatic sources during the past week as they criticised the continuous flow of inaccurate reports which fueled tensions over the Odyssey Marine Exploration activities in the area. Whilst the same diplomatic sources have indicated that there are ongoing discussions to calm the situation down, they have pinpointed the media frenzy as one of the main culprits in maintaining the level of tensions that exists.
Whilst the Spanish Foreign Ministry has remained away from comment, as has British Government officials in Gibraltar, the tensions between the Ministry of Culture and Odyssey have been fermented by a media frenzy.
The inaccurate reports have now seen an innocent bystander stopped and boarded after a stream of inaccurate reports which have gone unchecked.
The departure of the Swift Secure was wrongly reported last week, and was only corrected after it was clearly shown that the vessel had never left its berth.
Reports that the Robotic Submarine had also been unloaded from the Odyssey Explorer have also been dismissed as being part of the continuous misinformation being presented to the public.
?ZEUS has never left the deck of the Explorer,? stated the same source. This was further confirmed by officials operating within the Ministry of Defence installations and maritime observers who have been monitoring Odyssey closely in recent weeks. All of them have highlighted that whilst the reports have been emerging in some sectors of the Spanish media, they have themselves seen the Zeus onboard the vessel, highlighting the degree of inaccuracy that has been reported in recent weeks.
As was reported by gibfocus, the departure of the Swift Secure from Gibraltar has also led to a further embarrassment for the Spanish authorities following the continuous inaccuracies reported in some sectors of the Spanish press.
Only today the Gaceta de Negocio has claimed that a report by gibfocus on the boarding of the Swift Secure by the Spanish authorities was fiction. The assertions by the Gaceta de Negocio against gibfocus are wholly rejected and dismissed by gibfocus owners as ?totally unprofessional and inaccurate on their part?.
In claiming that the story was fictitious, the Gaceta highlighted the denials by the Spanish Guardia Civil over such an operation having taken place therefore the whole story had been made up. Whilst gibfocus has been aware of the denials, other facts have emerged confirming the incident had taken place.
However, as gibfocus reported yesterday, the Spanish authorities have provided further proof of their resolve to execute the La Linea court order against Odyssey Marine Exploration vessels by boarding the Swift Secure.
Information received by gibfocus yesterday confirmed that after departing Gibraltar the vessel had been stopped, boarded and searched off the coast of Tarifa, just passed the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Spanish authorities? operation took over an hour to complete before the vessel was allowed to continue on its route. The exact times of the boarding have also been confirmed and contrasted with information received on the position of the vessel at the time.
Whilst Spanish newspaper La Gaceta de Negocio has claimed that the whole incident did not take place it has been revealed that three Spanish officers boarded the Swift Secure checking the vessel's documents and conducting a brief search for a submarine. The same submarine some sectors of the Spanish media have claimed was transported onto the vessel last week from the Odyssey Explorer.
However, the denials from the Spanish media over the incident having taken place have once again been shown to be inaccurate with a spokesman for Split Ship Management, the Croatia-based company that operates the vessel having confirmed the incident took place in comments to a local newspaper.
Maritime industry officials have since the first reports emerged expressed deep concerns at the fact that an innocent by stander was stopped and searched due to the continuous media frenzy surrounding the Odyssey and generated mainly by some Spanish media sectors.
The latest denial by at least one newspaper claiming that the incident never took place further adds to the concerns on how the diplomatic tensions that exists are being fuelled by media speculation based on unfounded or unchecked reports in some instances.
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