Aid continues to pour into Sint Maarten as the cleanup continues on the island. Most of the roads and debris littering them have been cleared, with large piles of refuse now waiting to be transferred by ship off the island. The next step of recovery for the island will be the rebuild phase.
To assist with the rebuild effort, and to serve humanitarian needs of the community, the Dutch Navy have sent their largest vessel, HNLMS Karel Doorman (A833), loaded with relief supplies to Sint Maarten. Carrying over 160 crew members, the ship docked in Philipsburg carrying over one million kilos of goods and supplies, the largest single shipment of relief sent to the island post-Irma.
The shipment included 10 transmitter antennas for mobile telephones, 18 Dutch police vehicles, two police mobile command units, military trucks, cool containers, 12 dump trucks and eight water tank trucks. In addition, the Karel Doorman also brought construction materials for rebuilding and repairing of homes, schools and other vital infrastructure. A variety of bulldozers and excavators were also on the ship.
The ship carried school supplies, chairs, tables, and three large pavilion tents, as well as containers with food, water and other relief supplies such as toilet paper. It had just about everything you could list which should be an instant boost to the rebuild efforts around the island.
Please help rebuild SXM and give today. Click here to visit our donate page. Thank you!
Time lapse video showing the unloading of the Karel Doorman (via @kon_marine Twitter):
#Timelapse van Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman tijdens het lossen van hulpgoederen op Sint Maarten. #SXM #Irma @C_KarelDoorman pic.twitter.com/51UlSF1ldH
— Koninklijke Marine (@kon_marine) October 2, 2017
A few photos of the Karel Doorman, unloading the ship, and some of the supplies (photos via @KoninklijkeMarine Facebook):
