Supplies were delivered to St. Kitts by Carnival Fascination, which docked at Port Zante on Saturday. They were transferred from there by boat to St. Maarten. The goods included food, beverages, medical supplies, blankets, batteries and ice.
As of Monday night, St. Kitts—which escaped heavy damage from Irma—was under a hurricane warning for Maria, also a 'potentially catastrophic' Category 5 storm.
St. Kitts' own relief efforts for neighboring islands began the previous weekend, with water from the St. Kitts Bottling Co. shipped on a vessel to Saba. A donation box is planned to be placed at Port Zante for arriving cruise passengers and local citizens to contribute to relief efforts.
'While we are thankful to be relatively unscathed by the storm and resuming normal operations in the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis, we are also committed to help and support our fellow Caribbean islands in need of emergency assistance,' said Lindsay Grant, minister of tourism, international trade, industry and commerce.
'It is wonderful to work with our partner, St. Kitts, to provide relief supplies to those Caribbean islands like St. Maarten that have been severely damaged by Hurricane Irma,' said Gus Antorcha, EVP guest shipboard operations, Carnival Cruise Line. 'In times such as these, it is important that we all join together to help those in need.'
St. Kitts' Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport has likewise been offered as a staging platform for relief efforts to St. Barts, St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Martin and St. Maarten.
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