POINT BLANCHE:--- There will be an open house on Saturday, May 25 for the general public on-board the U.S. Coast Guard Tall Ship Eagle which will be in port from May 24 to the 27. The Open House is from 10:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday.
Visitors should pay attention to signage that will direct you to a safe and secure designated parking area, which is the open lot before you reach the entrance to the port if you are driving from the direction of Chesterfields. There will be a shuttle trolley that will take visitors back and forth to the USCG Eagle throughout the day.
The Port of St. Maarten has been working closely with Dr. Jack Stevens, President of the Navy League's Caribbean and Latin American Region, since last year to bring more U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels to St. Maarten for rest and relaxation. A port delegation which also included Stevens traveled to Seatrade in March where they met with various representatives of the United States Navy in order to promote liberty visits to the island.
Jack Stevens further explained that the four factors that determine where a ship makes a liberty visit are (1) the needs of the country or service, (2) the safety and security of the ship and the crew members, (3) costs associated with the visit, and (4) last, but certainly not least, the wishes of the crew.
Chief Executive Officer of the Port of St. Maarten Mark Mingo said that we can promote future business for our Country St. Maarten by making all visitors feel safe and secure, keep our prices competitive with other ports, and by helping every visitor have a great time on our friendly island.
The U.S. Coast Guard Tall Ship Eagle for its 2013 sailing schedule is traveling to the Caribbean, along the Eastern Seaboard, and to Canada with cadets and officer candidates, teaching them practical seamanship skills while indoctrinating them in the Coast Guard's floating leadership laboratory.
The Eagle was built at the Blohm + Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany in 1936, and commissioned as Horst Wessel. The Eagle became one of three sail-training ships operated by the pre-World War II German Navy.
At the close of the war, the ship was taken as a war reparation by the U.S., re-commissioned as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle and sailed to New London, Connecticut, which has been its homeport ever since.
Eagle has offered generations of Coast Guard Academy cadets, and more recently officer candidates, an unparalleled leadership experience at sea. The Eagle offers the opportunity to put into practice the navigation, engineering, and other professional theory future officers have previously leaned in the classroom.
The hull of the Eagle is steel, four-tenths of an inch thick. There are two full-length steel decks with a platform deck below. Under full sail in the open ocean, the Eagle can reach speeds up to 17 knots.
