ORANJESTAD – This week the Commander of the Navy in the Caribbean, also in his capacity as Director of the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard, Frank Boots, paid a visit to the Windward Islands.

During his visit he met the new Governor of Sint Maarten, Ajamu Baly. After his meeting, he sailed with a Coast Guard vessel to Saba, where he met with Lieutenant Governor Jonathan Johnson. The Head of the Substation of Coast Guard Sint Maarten, Roberto Levenstone and Arie Noordam, Commander of the Sint Maarten Detachment were also present. During his visit to the Lieutenant Governor, various safety topics and deployment of the Coastguard around Saba were discussed.

Later during the day, the Coastguard cutter Poema, sailed the delegation to Sint Eustatius, to attend the festivities of Statia Day on November 16th. Here the delegation was welcomed by Alida Francis, Government Commissioner of Sint Eustatius. 

During the festivities the delegation attended the commemoration of the ‘First Salute’. With this salute, 246 years ago, as the first country the Kingdom of the Netherlands recognized the United States of America. This happened with the firing of the famous ‘first salute’ for the treatise of Oranjestad.

Besides, on this day, the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was officially opened. The Coast Guard held an Open House during the festivities, whereby visitors could have a tour on the Coastguard cutter Poema and get an opportunity to have a detailed look on board of the Coastguard Metal Sharks.

Valuable

Back in Sint Maarten, on Friday morning Frank Boots met Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs where they discussed various Coastguard and Defense matters during their meeting. According to the Coastguard, it was a valuable visit to the Windward Islands, where discussions were held with various partners in the field of security, in order to further strengthen ties and cooperation in the Dutch Caribbean Region.