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One of the UK’s two aircraft carriers, HMS Prince of Wales, has been readied to set sail from Portsmouth, the BBC has learned.

The ship’s crew has been told to be ready to depart in five days, defense sources said. Usually 14 days’ notice is given to the ship’s “Notice of Commencement of Voyage”.

As a result, it is thought that the ship may be deployed in the Mediterranean to protect British interests threatened by the conflict in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the British government has been accused of not acting quickly enough to protect Cyprus from enemy drone and missile attacks.

A Type 45 destroyer, HMS Dragon, is already deployed in the region.

The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is scheduled to deploy to the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans later this year. To that end it was put up for regular maintenance at Portsmouth.

The warship was supposed to take part in Operation Firecrest with US, Canadian and European allies to prevent Russian aggression in the region near the North Pole.

A defense source told the BBC that the Prince of Wales was “asked to prepare for the visit at five days’ notice”.

A Ministry of Defense spokesman said, “We have been strengthening the British military presence in the Middle East since January. Already Typhoons, F-35 jets, air defense systems and an additional 400 personnel have been deployed to Cyprus to protect the British people and our allies in the region”.

“Since the attack began, British aircraft have been seen destroying drones and have sent additional equipment to the region to strengthen our air defences”.