Gibraltar Police RIBs

Tim M · 25 September 2012, 15:44

I saw these whilst in Gibraltar last week. The police there have some serious RIBs! Presumably for catching drug runners? The cabin one has 4x250hp on the back, the open grey one 4x350hp!!! (Verados) They were doing joy rides for a group of school kids from the marina that we were in. Must have cost a fortune in fuel!!

Perroboy · 25 September 2012, 16:23

I met one of those guys in the UK.He said the boats are captured drug runners!!! What a job!!!He said they can use 1500l of fuel in a day!!

boristhebold · 25 September 2012, 16:25

I think I remember reading an article on these boats in a magazine, at least one of them was seized from a drug runner or smuggler and put into police use. And they have some law that states if your rib is over a certain horsepower they can seize it.

Perroboy · 25 September 2012, 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by boristhebold

I think I remember reading an article on these boats in a magazine, at least one of them was seized from a drug runner or smuggler and put into police use. And they have some law that states if your rib is over a certain horsepower they can seize it.

200hp or over 6m they will impound if found within the 3 mile limit!!! Classed as an illegal import.

mister p · 25 September 2012, 18:35

I have spent some time with the Gib Marine Police. Essentially the dodgy traffic from Africa to Spain keeps them busy.
It's mostly contraband fags not drugs, although the percentages paint the wrong picture about this.
What I mean is that there is so much tobacco smuggling that the odd tonne of coke pales into insignificance weight wise.
The smugglers wait for dusk and then use the same routes over and over. The Gib cops simply sit on a GPS setting along a path that the smugglers use and nab them.
The smuggling is very far from sophisticated. The police intercept swimmers making a "run" for it across the Med.
Their RIB's are very much for purpose and are used in all conditions without "what appears to be" very much fear. They simply go and get them, armed and ready.
The most recent "trip" was at 55 knots for about 20 minutes, throttle-man, helm and, shall we say "gun-man".
They've got heli support and Navy to call upon and once the forces are mobilised it does make for a formidable scene.
The reason the "cigarette" boats are so called is because that is what they smuggled (cigs) in the Carribean using souped up vessels that were faster than any cop boat. Very much the same as liquor runners during the "prohibition" souped up their cars in a standard body so as not to draw attention. That then gave rise to "red-neck" county line runners which then morphed into NASCAR.
Still a very challenging sport but the history is rich.

Landlockedpirate · 25 September 2012, 20:21

Gib has got to be the sadest place in the world for a Sib or Rib enthusiast. My brother lives out there and his apartment over looks the police compound, its always full of ribs and sibs of all sizes and shapes simply slashed and left to rot. It seems that visiting boats can have there tenders confiscated for simply having them in the water

You can also see the engines off the boats, some are simply chain sawed off the transom, everything from 15hp 2 strokes to 250hp off shore monsters.

Boatnomad · 25 September 2012, 20:27

Yep,heard that of the place,one hell of a waste.Seen a photo once of a Flatbed truck leaving there loaded up with slashed "Black" RIB's

willk · 25 September 2012, 20:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landlockedpirate

It seems that visiting boats can have there tenders confiscated for simply having them in the water

There may be some "poetic license" involved there. Bear in mind that the Straights are only 8 miles wide in parts, so the crossing is possible in very small boats that can carry quite a lot of weight and still slip "under the radar"...

mister p · 25 September 2012, 20:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landlockedpirate

Gib has got to be the sadest place in the world for a Sib or Rib enthusiast. My brother lives out there and his apartment over looks the police compound, its always full of ribs and sibs of all sizes and shapes simply slashed and left to rot. It seems that visiting boats can have there tenders confiscated for simply having them in the water

You can also see the engines off the boats, some are simply chain sawed off the transom, everything from 15hp 2 strokes to 250hp off shore monsters.

Don't agree, the cops are actually very friendly to genuine "people".
The seized stuff has to be destroyed.
The Gib police do provide a secure crossing.......it's really not a good place to be at night. Let's say that you and / or your crew are worth a few ounces of lead. And it really is that simple. Life has a different meaning for African smugglers. Waving a Brit passport doesn't work.
Actually it happens all over the Med..
Windermere here I come!!!

mister p · 25 September 2012, 20:43

So actually, I do agree, but only a bit.

Mollers · 25 September 2012, 20:48

Gib is an odd place. We fell foul of customs for having a Philipino engineer on a Brit registered yacht with an otherwise Brit crew. The engineer had all of his papers in order inc. his seaman's card. The miserable bint of a customs officer refused us to set foot on land or even take on fuel. We anchored overnight between the runway and Spain and had to take the sib to Spain to purchase a bottle of gas for the galley stove. Wouldn't rush back. :-/

mister p · 25 September 2012, 20:58

Wouldn't rush there!!!

Cookee · 26 September 2012, 08:16

I have some friends there and we raced OCR and Offshore there with a lot of high powered boats by permission. We sold a Phantom 19 to two brothers who won the OCR championship three years in a row, they flew over, raced and returned for every race. One brother was in the Army (British) over there and the other was in retail and both were familiar with "operations" over there. Really nice guys and a pleasure to work with. There are a lot of exaggerations above, but it's fair to say that they are strict for a reason and there is a line that isn't worth crossing in that area - the Spanish Police aren't any better!

It seems that shooting at the powerheads on outboards from helicopters and entangling nets for props are all used to stop the smugglers.

thomas · 26 September 2012, 08:22

Careful, you'll give them ideas down at Osborne Bay.

Tim M · 26 September 2012, 09:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollers

Gib is an odd place. We fell foul of customs for having a Philipino engineer on a Brit registered yacht with an otherwise Brit crew. The engineer had all of his papers in order inc. his seaman's card. The miserable bint of a customs officer refused us to set foot on land or even take on fuel. We anchored overnight between the runway and Spain and had to take the sib to Spain to purchase a bottle of gas for the galley stove. Wouldn't rush back. :-/

Interesting. We had no problems in Gib - the staff were most helpful, and "clearing" was very easy. Spain on the other hand was a total nightmare; about half an hour of forms, photocopies of all of our documents, rubber stamps, signatures etc.

Zippy · 26 September 2012, 11:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

Interesting. We had no problems in Gib - the staff were most helpful, and "clearing" was very easy. Spain on the other hand was a total nightmare; about half an hour of forms, photocopies of all of our documents, rubber stamps, signatures etc.

Half an hour??? Doesn't seen too bad!!!

Pikey Dave · 26 September 2012, 12:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zippy

Half an hour??? Doesn't seen too bad!!!

Just what I thought. It took us so long in Dun Loaghaire in July AND we had to be fingerprinted

bedajim · 26 September 2012, 12:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cookee

There are a lot of exaggerations above, but it's fair to say that

Mollers and the Philipino boy is true

Don't remember him referred to as an "engineer" before

Alan Priddy · 26 September 2012, 13:00

Gibraltar has change some what over the past few years and is a great place to visit. It has to be said that they are not keen on small fast craft but once you have established that you are not on the wrong side of the law they are fine. AP

mister p · 26 September 2012, 18:05

Actually, I'm really quite fond of Gib. It's cool in a gnarly way.........a bit El Dorado (in Glaswegian, obviously) and Markooooooos. Actually (again) , there's not much cool about that come to think of it!
Ah, there it is, Micky Dee and the cool airport location. Oh and the fact that there may be a secret nuclear submarine base underneath it. Now that's cool.