GREAT BAY--The Ministry of Defense and Damen Workboats have signed a contract for the construction of three new medium-sized patrol vessels for the Caribbean Coast Guard, marking a major investment in maritime security and operational capacity across the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.

GREAT BAY--A notice issued by Tropical Shipping shows that the company plans to increase its bunker surcharge effective April 12, 2026, citing volatility in global fuel costs and the need to protect service stability across the Caribbean supply chain.

GREAT BAY--The Democratic Party (DP) faction, together with several other Members of Parliament, has formally requested that the Chair of Parliament convene an urgent meeting of the Central Committee to address growing concerns about the future of the monetary union between Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the role of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS).

GREAT BAY--As stated several times while he was a Member of Parliament and after, leader of the Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) party Christophe Emmanuel on Friday urged the government of St. Maarten to prepare for a future that does not include a Central Bank union for Curacao.

GREAT BAY--A day after dubbing the current government the "worst government", Member of Parliament Omar Ottley, says the Minister of VROMI’s failure to perform has turned St. Maarten’s garbage crisis into a national humiliation. He said the present administration has allowed a basic public service to decay into a public embarrassment.

AMSTERDAM--Francio Guadeloupe on Thursday delivered his inaugural lecture upon accepting the position of KNAW Professor in the Public Anthropology of Kingdom Relations at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of the University of Amsterdam, using the occasion to call for a fundamental rethinking of how the Dutch Caribbean and Kingdom relations are studied, understood, and discussed in academic and public life.