THE HAGUE--Hurricane Irma affected the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard in almost all its aspects: personnel, material and operation. Not only did the extreme storm destroy the Coast Guard station in St. Maarten, but it also affected the operations as a result of emergency assistance and the availability of material.
The Coast Guard was not able to meet all its objectives last year due to the consequences of Hurricane Irma. The vessels made fewer hours at sea and a smaller number of controls were executed because of the loss of two Super Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (Super RHIBs) in St. Maarten during the hurricane.
The two boats were smashed out of the boat lifts and declared a total loss. The boat lifts themselves were also heavily damaged and became unusable. The Coast Guard station in Simpson Bay sustained damage, it was stated in the organisation’s 2017 annual account which was sent to the Dutch Parliament earlier this week.
The hurricane caused a delay in the adaptation of the boat lifts for the new patrol vessels, the Metal Sharks, in both St. Maarten and Curaçao. After the hurricane, the priority was shifted to repairing of the damage at the Coast Guard station in St. Maarten. The project to repair the building, pier and boat lifts has been initiated.
The Coast Guard staff stationed in St. Maarten and their families didn’t sustain physical injuries during Hurricane Irma, but many suffered substantial material damage to their homes, as did their workplace. That takes a toll on people.
Therefore, Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten in her letter that accompanied the annual account to the Parliament expressed great appreciation for the Coast Guard personnel, especially considering the damage they sustained privately and at work. The minister also expressed gratitude towards the Defence personnel that offered support during this period.
Ocean Patrol Vessel HMNLS Zeeland provided disaster relief in the Windward Islands and Dominica after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. As a result, the ship missed nine sea patrol days to execute regular tasks for the Coast Guard on the other Dutch Caribbean islands.
Curaçao and Aruba each permanently relinquished one of their three Super-RHIBs to St. Maarten to replace the boats that were lost during the hurricane. This had an influence on the availability of material in Curaçao and Aruba. Consequently, fewer controls were executed on the waters surrounding the two islands since September 2017. This in turn had an adverse effect on the total number of patrols.
The deployment of 64 flights of the Dash-8 aircraft after the hurricane didn’t have an adverse effect on the Coast Guard budget. The additional flights were booked under the existing lease that Defence has with the supplier, Provincial Aerospace Limited, and were covered under the emergency assistance paid for by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK.
Psychological assistance was provided to the Coast Guard staff in St. Maarten and their families. Three persons, including two psychologists, came over from Curaçao to talk with the employees and their families and to assess their individual psychological needs.
One of the recommendations was to have a crew change on the Cutter vessel so the original crew can go home to prepare in case of an approaching hurricane. The crew of the Jaguar cutter from Curaçao served on the Poema Cutter, which is stationed in St. Maarten, for two weeks to secure the continuation of the assistance after Hurricane Irma.
The Coast Guard seized a smaller number of illegal drugs in 2017: about 1,500 kilo, of which 1,370 kilo cocaine and 127 kilo marijuana. Of the total amount, 346 kilos were seized by the St. Maarten Coast Guard station, which also covers the area of St. Eustatius and Saba. The largest amount, 1,060 kilos was caught in international waters.
The amount that was seized in 2017 was considerably less than the two previous years when 3,570 kilos (2016) and 8,780 kilos (2015) were confiscated. A general analysis has not provided a clear answer as to why this was the case last year.
However, radar analyses have indicated that in some areas near the islands, drug- smuggling vessels are applying a different method which makes it hard for the Coast Guard to detect them. “The vessels opt for an adapted modus operandi whereby the current radar cannot distinguish them from sea waves.”
In total, the Coast Guard executed 127 search and rescue operations in 2017, of which 13 were in the Windward Islands, whereby four persons were rescued. The Coast Guard works together with citizens’ rescue organisations. In 2017, further work agreements were made with Sea Rescue Foundation St. Maarten (SRF) about cooperation in search and rescue missions.
Based on international agreements, France is responsible for the coordination of search and rescue near the Windward Islands. As usual, the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard worked closely with French authorities in Martinique in 2017. Efforts will be undertaken to have the 2013 cooperation protocol be incorporated in the existing cooperation protocol of the Gendarmerie and the Dutch-side Police Force to make it easier to have hot pursuits at sea whereby territorial waters are crossed.
The Coast Guard drafted reports on 220 violations in the Dutch Caribbean waters in executing its task of maritime supervision. The Coast Guard station drafted 65 reports of maritime violations. Of this number, a mere 15 related to the Saba Bank, which is less than the 21 violations in 2016. Vessels sailing under the Panama flag committed most of violations on the Saba Bank.
It is forbidden to pass over the Saba Bank with vessels that are larger than 300 gross tonnes and it is not allowed to anchor. The Prosecutor’s Office issued three fines last year to ship owners that violated the Saba Bank regulations. The Saba Bank is supervised using a so-called Automatic Identification System (AIS) which makes it possible to detect violations from a distance.
The Coast Guard arrested 326 undocumented persons at sea in 2017, which is a lot more than the 122 in 2016. The major cause of this increase is the illegal immigration from Venezuela to especially Curaçao and Aruba. Contraband, such as drugs and heavy firearms, were often found on board of the vessels that transported undocumented persons from Venezuela.
