TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin French side boat wreck removal begins

It's about time. 5 years later.

For some reason the French seem to take island time to a new level.

And they had the chutzpah to have a celebration. Or is it hutzpah.

Chutzpah. Plus there are so many wrecks in that lagoon! What the heck!

I'm just happy it's finally underway. What a difference it will make.

Did the ship wreck removal efforts of last year NOT include the French side of the lagoon?

No, totally different contract for removal by Dutch side authorities, versus French side.

Yep we are here and it’s definitely happening.

And look who is paying - 4.8 from the EU and 800K$ from the island...

I'm not sure what your point is. Do you think the small population on the island should have to pay for all of it?

The French-side Collectivité is technically an EU territory, although not part of Schengen. The Dutch side, as a separate country, is not part of the EU, although it is a constituent part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Recovery Trust Fund, which sponsored the clean-up on the Dutch side of the island, was significantly funded (€4.70M) by the Dutch government, so not dissimilar.

The funding by the EU is a fairly common practice under EU disaster-relief programs. Thus the €4.28M from the EU, €828K from (I assume French) State credits and €444K from the French Collectivité itself is not unusual. I'm just glad it is finally getting done.

Something isn't right about that story. We went by where the boat was that was lodged in the frame of the house. It wasn't there in April"22" when we were out on our Rhino Safari riders afternoon cruise around the island! This is the photo I took in 2018!