SIMPSON BAY—A 45-foot catamaran, a cabin cruiser and a green cigarette-type boat were destroyed by fire late Wednesday afternoon in the Simpson Bay Lagoon when a fuel leak ignited on one of the boats as the owner was working on it, causing the fire to spread instantly to the other two boats.
The three vessels were located side-by-side at the end of the docks in front of the American University of Integrated Science in Cole Bay. The docks are owned by the Erato family.
According to information obtained on the scene, an individual named Marc Belege was attempting to take out the fuel tank from his boat because it had a leak. His boat was in between the other two. He had finished cutting the deck to remove the tank and was transferring the fuel to another container when there was a spark even though the cutting tool was turned off.
“I got flames on my leg and I thought there was going to be an explosion so I immediately jumped into the water and a boat picked me up. But when I saw it was not a big fire yet I tried to get on board again to put it out, and that’s when in a second the fire spread to the other boats,” Belege related.
Apart from Belege, who was treated for burns to his legs, no other persons were on board the boats. The Coastguard assisted the Fire Department in extinguishing the fires and a Pilot boat also assisted. A St. Maarten Sea Rescue vessel also stood by. Police and officials from Maritime Affairs were present.
The fire started around 4:30pm and took a little over an hour to extinguish. The catamaran was being looked after by Andrew Erato but it was not known who the owner was of the cabin cruise was.
