The arena of war threats in the Near and Middle East, and the escalation of military “sparks” along the Baltic and North Sea, cross each other days in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar (on the photo, satellite photo) and its Atlantic-Mediterranean surroundings, signalling potential new dynamics in that region.
An example of a possible “close encounter” scenario occurred last week, when the USS aircraft carrier “Gerald R. Ford” approached Gibraltar from the Atlantic with an accompanying strike group of ships, accompanied by at least one ship of the Spanish Navy (frigate Santa Maria). “Gerald R. Ford” by the way was on the move from the Atlantic — where until recently participated in the US mission in the “case of Venezuela”, in the direction of the Eastern Mediterranean or Suez, it has not yet been specified. (https://www.twz.com/news-features/supercarrier-uss-gerald-r-ford-has-crossed-into-the-mediterranean).
In the meantime, in the waters of the Central and Western Mediterranean from the beginning of February until recently, the Russian military cargo ship “Sparta IV” (known for the transport of particularly fragile cargo, including weapons systems and ammunition)- was moving quite mysteriously (https://www.unionesarda.it/en/sardinia/the-russian-ship39-s-strange-route-off-the-coast-of-sardinia-nato-monitors-its-movements-uarw2dh7).
As recently as January, “Sparta IV” sailed in the Mediterranean Sea together with another Russian ship “Mys Zheaniya” and the tanker “Kama” accompanied by the destroyer “Severnomorsk” of the Russian Navy, and since then it has been under NATO monitoring. There was also speculation that a Russian Kilo-class submarine was in the vicinity during the same period (https://maritime-executive.com/article/russian-military-cargo-ship-continues-mysterious-maneuvers).
Be that as it may, the “group” split up at some point. Then, in the middle of the month, “Sparta IV“, traveling in the direction of Gibraltar (according to announcements for Kaliningrad in the Baltic), suddenly changed course, “oscillating” for five days along the eastern coast of Sardinia. Then, “Sparta IV” turned off the transponder, and after a few days, surfaced not far from the territorial waters of Spain.
All this time, the Italian, French, Spanish and British Navies kept “Sparta IV” close look on it, since the movement of Russian Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea has been quite frequent of lately (https://www.itamilradar.com/2026/02/14/sparta-iv-reappears-off-spain-after-ais-blackout/).
Then, “Sparta IV” again “oscillated” there, remaining always in international waters, but not far from the territorial waters of Spain. Technical failure? Bad weather? Something else?
Vigilant observers have not found out even to this day – when that ship has already passed through Gibraltar. After crossing on Atlantic, “Sparta IV” continued to “oscillate”, this time not far from the territorial waters of Portugal, at the height of the city of Nazare.
Military—naval congestion around Gibraltar becomes noticeable.
