A Royal Navy Scimitar-class fast patrol boat has reportedly fired warning shots at a Spanish patrol vessel as it was harassing a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine.
USS Florida, an Ohio-class submarine, was trying to dock in Gibraltar when the Spanish vessel crossed its path two times, whereafter HMS Sabre fired flares to force the Spanish boat to leave, British Sun reported.
This is not the first standoff between Spain and Great Britain in Gibraltar as Spanish vessels have been spotted in British waters on multiple occasions in the past.
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory which shares its northern border with the Province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain.
An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession and the territory was subsequently ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
This territory has remained a point of contention between the two countries as Spain never relinquished its claims to the territory.