St. Maarten Private Eye

By Rueben J Thompson

Love the Lagoon, Environmental Protection in the Caribbean

During EPIC’s most recent inspection of the Lagoon with our partner foundations, we noticed someone hanging off the port-side of the Luxury Yacht REVERIE and we decided to have a closer look. Upon approaching the REVERIE we were dismayed to discover that someone was in the process of scraping paint off of the boat without having provided for any sort of catchment facilities to prevent paint chips or pieces of metal from ending up in the Simpson Bay Lagoon. The water surrounding the REVERIE was visibly discollored due to the influx of the paint scrapings and small pieces of metal.

The scraping and/ or sanding of vessel hulls generates toxic material that must be treated as hazardous solid waste. Paint removal should preferably be done in an enclosed or sheltered area with a tarped enclosure to contain debris and dust, tarps or filter cloths/nets must be placed under the vessel to collect paint and scrapings.

Click here to Read More

With 7 decks, a length of 70 meters, weighing over 1500 tons and an estimated worth of over $65 million U.S. dollars the Luxury Charter Yacht REVERIE is one of the largest yachts built in Italy during the last 15 years. According to charterworld.com the REVERIE can be chartered for approximately $700.000 per week.

The aforementioned leaves St. Maarten’s environmental foundations to wonder why the Vessel’s captain and/ or owners would choose to repair the boat in the waters of the Simpson Bay Lagoon without taking any sort of precautionary measures to prevent toxic material from ending up in the water. If one can afford a $65 million dollar yacht, chartered for over $700.000 per week, then why not provide for comparatively simple and inexpensive catchment facilities or other precautionary measures when repairing the vessel? Its obviously not because of ignorance of the environmental consequences or that the material is unavailable or too expensive on St. Maarten. EPIC is certain both Budget Marine and Island Water World carry the relevant material and what is a few hundred dollars compared to $700.000 a week??

The REVERIE sails to numerous destinations in the Mediterranean & the Caribbean, EPIC is confident that the vessel’s captain/owner would not have even attempted to carry out work on the vessel in a European harbour/ Marina without taking the necessary precautions to protect the environment.
The Environmental Foundations can only conclude that REVERIE’s captain chose to contribute to the environmental challenges the Lagoon faces for one simple reason and that is; Because he or she figured they could get away with it on St. Maarten!!

Aside from the additional burden the REVERIE’s paint chips have placed on the already fragile Simpson Bay Lagoon, the saddest part of this entire episode is that it happens on St. Maarten too often and that the REVERIE’s owners almost undoubtedly will get away with it.

Make sure you read the next Lagoon Log for more answers to your questions and for more information on the Simpson Bay Lagoon.

Rueben J. Thompson
Project Manager Love the Lagoon, Environmental Protection in the Caribbean

Additional Lagoon Logs - By Rueben J Thompson - EPIC

add new comment