The first weekend of September was a busy one on Statia. After the arrival of the support vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy, HNLMS Pelikaan, and the Marine Corps Company from Aruba on Friday, the people of Statia had a short time to prepare themselves on the disaster exercise on Saturday and the Navy Introduction Day on Sunday.
Disaster Exercise
Two car crashes with several victims, a leaking fuel truck and a fire kept the Disaster Committee, the Police, the Fire Brigade and the different medical services very busy. In cooperation with the oil company Nu Star, the Netherlands Navy constructed a very realistic disaster scenario. The different services on Statia got the opportunity to exercise how to handle such a difficult situation.
It was quite the challenge for them but they managed well. After a few hours the wounded people were evacuated, the fire was extinguished and the roads were free of car wrecks. In the evaluation, the Disaster Committee and the different services were happy with this great opportunity and the things they learned.
Introduction Day
On Sunday, the harbour of Statia was transformed in a small navy village where people could visit HNLMS Pelikaan and the coastguardcutter Poema. The marines of the Netherlands Marine Corps had some cool events for kids: they could get a camouflaged face and the could shoot. There were different demonstrations from the Coastguard and the marines and there was even a flyby of a Dash Coastguard airplane.
Saba
After the weekend the ships and the Marine Corps left for Saba, where they will also organize a disasterscenario and an introduction day.
