The journey of the Bharatiya fleet to the Gibraltar Strait took several days. Entering the vicinity of the strait, the entire fleet positioned itself at the port of Rabat. Baron Aurelio de Silva, who was in charge of managing the port, had no idea how to handle the situation. One random day, without warning, the Bharatiya fleet entered the area and took control of the entire harbour. As a response, he did not try to resist. Instead, he tactfully let the Bharatiyas do whatever they wanted and did his duty by informing Madrid of the situation, but he was not sure the capital knew how to respond either.
After all, the Bharatiya vessels did not attack the port, nor did they declare sovereignty over it. They simply occupied it by force. Given the grim news of the European fleet's defeat, he doubted that His Majesty would want to provoke the Bharatiya Empire, especially now, when they were already short on warships.
