Jamaica Receives Large Shipment of Relief Supplies
By: , November 5, 2025
Photo: DONALD DE LA HAYE
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith (right), greets Captain of the HNLMS Pelikaan, Lieutenant Commander Max Borsboom. The Dutch Navy support ship, which brought relief supplies to the island, docked at the Kingston Freeport Container Terminal on Tuesday (November 4).
Photo: DONALD DE LA HAYE
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith (third left), shares a moment with representatives from partner countries, which shipped relief supplies to the island aboard the Dutch Navy support ship, HNLMS Pelikaan. The ship docked at the Kingston Freeport Container Terminal on Tuesday (November 4).
Photo: DONALD DE LA HAYE
Hurricane relief items are being unloaded from the Dutch Navy support ship, HNLMS Pelikaan, at the Kingston Freeport Container Terminal on Tuesday (November 4). The ship brought over 150 tonnes of relief material and equipment to the island.
Photo: DONALD DE LA HAYE
Crew members of the Dutch Navy support ship, HNLMS Pelikaan, observing the unloading of goods when the vessel docked at the Kingston Freeport Container Terminal on Tuesday (November 4). The ship brought over 150 tonnes of relief material and equipment to the island.
Photo: DONALD DE LA HAYE
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith (left), converses with captain of the HNLMS Pelikaan, Lieutenant Commander Max Borsboom (right), shortly after the arrival of the Dutch Navy support ship at the Kingston Freeport Container Terminal on Tuesday (November 4), with hurricane relief supplies for Jamaica. Listening are European Union (EU) Ambassador to Jamaica Her Excellency, Dr. Erja Askola (second left), and Alyssa Van Der Ree Gafoor.The Full Story
The Government of Jamaica, on Tuesday (November 4), received a large shipment of hurricane relief supplies from several of the island’s international partners.
The shipment of 15 containers with more than 150 tonnes of relief material and equipment, arrived aboard the Dutch Navy support ship, HNLMS Pelikaan, from its base in Curaçao.
Included were medical and health supplies, emergency shelter materials, power and electrical equipment, vehicles, forklifts and other transport assets as well as communication tools and water sanitation equipment to support Jamaican communities affected by the disaster.
The items were donated by the European Union (EU), United Nations (UN), Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Dutch, Canada and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, who was at the Kingston Freeport Container Terminal to receive the shipment, expressed delight and gratitude for the contribution from the “true friends of Jamaica”.
“It is times like these… in times of trouble, you know who your true friends are, but the truth is, you are all friends who are with us even when we are not in times of trouble, because we partner together in good and in bad,” she pointed out.
“The delivery of assistance is one step in the relief, emergency response [and] recovery. This will be an arduous task but the humanitarian support, which is here, will positively impact the lives of families affected,” she noted.
Senator Johnson Smith said that the delivery of relief has been a challenge especially in the significantly affected communities, as some roads have still not been cleared.
Ship captain, Lieutenant Commander Max Borsboom, said that the shipment includes two pickup trucks from the World Food Programme, which will enable responders to get into hard-to-reach communities.