Gwendoline van Putten School students touring navy vessel “HNLMS Pelikaan.”
Government Commissioner Marcolino Franco (left), GvP School principal Rosalie Edelstein-Lopes (second left) and “HNLMS Pelikaan” Lieutenant Commander David Boom (right) with members of GvP school board and management.
ST. EUSTATIUS--Twenty Gwendoline van Putten (GvP) Secondary School students and their teachers visited HNLMS Pelikaan on Monday for a guided tour and a presentation about the work of the Department of Defence in the Caribbean.
HNLMS Pelikaan is the logistical support ship of the Netherlands Forces in the Caribbean and is permanently based at Parera naval base in Curaçao.
During the tour students had the opportunity to meet the crew, who gave them insight into life on board and the work they do on board the ship.
Government Commissioner Marcolino “Mike” Franco also paid a visit to the ship and met with its new Lieutenant Commander David Boom.
The Pelikaan arrived in the harbour of St. Eustatius on Sunday, October 21, after which the crew had the opportunity to see the island. In cooperation with St. Eustatius National Parks STENAPA they hiked The Quill trail up the volcano’s crater.
The Pelikaan left Parera on Monday, October 15, to give logistical support in transporting military equipment and goods between the islands in the Dutch Caribbean. Part of those goods were for GvP School, donated school by the Commander of the Netherlands Forces in the Caribbean.
The ship left the St. Eustatius harbour on Monday afternoon to continue her logistical task between the islands.
