Philipsburg- The Royal Netherlands Navy’s biggest ship, the HNLMS Karel Doorman A-833, a Joint Support Ship (JSS), arrived on Friday at Port St. Maarten after its trans-Atlantic crossing from Den Helder on April 13 in the Netherlands. 

The vessel was deployed by the Netherlands Ministry of Defence to support the civilian authorities in the fight against the coronavirus disease COVID-19 when and where this is required.  The ship has been deployed for an initial three-month period according to the Ministry of Defence.

The HNLMS Karel Doorman brought in disaster relief supplies along with a number of vehicles for the emergency phase of post Hurricane Irma/Maria in 2017.

The HNLMS Karel Doorman consignment in 2017 was the single largest shipment of relief goods Post-Hurricane Irma comprising of goods with a total weight of over one million kilos and valued at an estimated one million Euros.

The vessel features, among others, 20 medical treatment areas and two surgery rooms.

The Royal Netherlands Navy deploys the vessel both at home and abroad for crisis management operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.  The Royal Netherlands Navy is the oldest of the four Services of the Netherlands Armed Forces.