A handful of colleagues, including the Commander of the Navy in the Caribbean, Brigadier General of the Marines Peter Jan de Vin, stood on the jetty of naval base Parera on Monday morning to see Zr. Ms. Wish Groningen a good return trip. With the arrival of Zr. Ms. Zeeland in the Caribbean, Groningen can start its journey across the Atlantic sea, back to the Netherlands. General De Vin threw one of the bunches together with his Chief of Equipage, adjutant of the operational operations Hans Hijman. "The two-year pilot of the concept of a crew change is interrupted, but I soon see the ship again in the West after her maintenance period in the Netherlands," said the general.
Since April 2019, the Royal Netherlands Navy has started a pilot involving the station ship Zr.Ms. Groningen will remain in the Caribbean for two years and the crew as a whole will change. However, Groningen is going to the Netherlands for a short period of maintenance. This return was not planned. The switch between the Groningen and the Zeeland is a direct result of the closure of the airspace of Curaçao for incoming flights, due to the coronavirus. These flight restrictions mean that the crew of the Zeeland, who would fly to Curaçao to take over the Groningen crew, is now sailing to the Caribbean. The travel restrictions also have consequences for maintenance personnel of the Royal Netherlands Navy, who would carry out maintenance on the spot in Groningen. They now do this in the Netherlands, as soon as Groningen is back.
Operations
Besides maritime presence and the provision of emergency aid, counterdrug operations and support of the Coast Guard CARIB are important tasks of the station ship. During the coronavirus, the station ship mainly performed the latter task (supporting the Coast Guard CARIB). In addition to the station ship, Defense in the Caribbean also supports the Coast Guard with soldiers from the army and the Marine Corps and with the Aruban and Curaçao militia, both on land and on water. Marines of the Detachment on Sint Maarten support the local authorities in enforcing the measures announced by the government.
Karel Doorman
Monday morning the joint support ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy, Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman, left from the Netherlands. Defense sends the navy ship to support the local authorities of the (egg) countries in fighting the corona crisis if the situation calls for it. The support and supply vessel is initially deployed for 3 months.
