DEN HELDER--The emergency assistance provided by Dutch Defence personnel, in particular the Navy, in St. Maarten after Hurricane Irma is the theme of a photographic exhibition at the Navy Museum in Den Helder. The exhibition opens today, Friday, and continues up until March 4, 2018.
Two Dutch Navy ships provided assistance in the days immediately after the hurricane on September 6: His Majesty Pelikaan, which is permanently stationed in the Caribbean, and His Majesty Zeeland, which at that time was the ship temporarily assigned to the Caribbean.
The crew of the two ships, as well as the Dutch Marines who were transported to St. Maarten before and shortly after the hurricane, assisted with providing drinking water, food and medical care. Defence personnel also helped to clear major roads and to carry out repair work.
A third ship, His Majesty Karel Doorman, the Navy’s largest joint transport and logistics vessel, came to St. Maarten’s aid shortly after. The ship left the harbour of Den Helder with more than one million kilos of relief goods on September 20 and arrived in St. Maarten on October 1.
The photos at the exhibition, which the Navy Museum has received from the Navy, show the input of Navy personnel after the hurricane with distributing water and food, repairing communication lines and preventing looting. The photos also show the contact with the population. Defence personnel offered consolation, provided information and worked together with the people.
