Royal Dutch Navy vessel Zr. Ms. Karel Doorman in Great Bay. Photo courtesy of Ashok Aswani.
POINTE BLANCHE--Royal Dutch Navy vessel Zr. Ms. Karel Doorman has arrived in St. Maarten. The behemoth will dock at Port St. Maarten from where it will render assistance in the battle against the silence enemy – coronavirus COVID-19.
The vessel departed for the Caribbean from its home base in Den Helder, the Netherlands on April 13. The Dutch Ministry of Defence deployed the ship to provide support during the corona crisis. The plan is that she will stay for three months in the Caribbean, but that could be extended.
With the presence of the logistic support vessel the islands can, apart from the already available station vessel Zr. Ms. Zeeland, rely on a versatile capacity that can be deployed fast. Karel Doorman can offer transport support to guarantee, for instance, the food certainty. In addition, the navy vessel can support the Coast Guard in maritime border control and it can serve as an operational base to support public order by quickly putting staff and equipment ashore. Finally, the vessel also disposes of medical facilities to assist the local healthcare in non-COVID-19 related emergency care.
Karel Doorman is, apart from its own capacities as a transport and supply vessel, strengthened with two Cougar helicopters of the Air Force for medical transport and medical evacuations, a medical team with surgical capacity, a medical team for basic care ashore and drones of the Army and Navy for image composition. Moreover, navy units with vehicles and landing crafts are included for transport. If so required, an additional navy unit can be flown in. The vessel also brings along a hurricane emergency package.
France and the United Kingdom also have a navy vessel in the area. A coordination cell was set up with these countries on Martinique to cooperate, where required. For instance, the Karel Doorman can provide these vessels with fuel.
