International commerce takes place by almost 80 percent on the maritime sector. This contributes around 400 billion dollars to the world economy. Aruba needs to have a bigger stake in this total, and this is the vision of Aruban minister of Transport, Nature, Integrity and Older Adults Affairs, Ursell Arends, for the maritime sector.
Since last year, according to a press release, the government has taken various steps in order to push Aruba into having a larger presence in this sector.
During the last months, the foundation for a stronger maritime sector began taking shape. In the first stage, contact needed to be established with various big international organizations which are active in the sector. Thus contact was expanded with organizations of the American government and the government of the Netherlands. A good basis was established for the cooperation that is needed in order to achieve expansion of the presence of Aruba in the maritime sector.
In this context, on the 10th of August 2022, a delegation of the private sector of the Netherlands was welcomed, in the form of a society representing the ship owners in the Netherlands, which is KVNR – Koninklijke Vereninging van Nederlandse Reders. Participating for the KVNR was their managing director, Mrs. Annet Koster, and jurist of KVNR, Mr. Lodewijk Wisse. This organization has among its members renowned companies with a high reputation representing almost 2,400 large vessels. Most of these ships sail under the flag of the Netherlands.
A big step for Aruba in the maritime sector is to activate the ship registry of Aruba. In the Kingdom there are three registries, being the Netherlands, Curaçao and one registry in Aruba, which for some reason is not active. The mission of minister Arends is to reactivate the register for Aruba, which is a Kingdome registry, and this is something for which KVNR showed interest, so that Aruba can develop this registry in a modern and efficient way. With this the maritime sector will be expanded, which will have a direct effect on Aruba’s economy because the ships on the ocean depend on logistics from land; logistics in the sense of materials and also various legal and financial aspects.
Minister Arends indicated however that he requested to have the maritime sector in his ministry because it is a critical sector for Aruba, but sadly, not many people understand this, and for many years this sector was profoundly neglected. What’s regrettable about this is that the available resources are very limited, and in order to reactivate the sector, it will be necessary to work in a creative way.
Part of the solution is for Aruba to work in cooperation with the other islands. Every island and the Netherlands will benefit from the ‘economics of scale’, which such a cooperation carries with it. This is why it’s very important that the havenmeester of Bonaire, Mr. Gunther Flanegin, facilitated this meeting and engaged also together with KVNR and the government of Aruba.
During his visit at the Ocean Conference, minister Arends agreed with minister of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands, Mark Harbers, that Aruba will appreciate the sharing of know-how from the Netherlands on this field. Aruba is preparing the foundation for a strong maritime sector and is counting with cooperation of the Netherlands to achieve this.
Minister Ursell Arends:
Another big step in the maritime sector
ORANJESTAD – International commerce takes place by almost 80 percent on the maritime sector. This contributes around 400 billion dollars to the world economy. Aruba needs to have a bigger stake in this total, and this is the vision of Aruban minister of Transport, Nature, Integrity and Older Adults Affairs, Ursell Arends, for the maritime sector.
Since last year, according to a press release, the government has taken various steps in order to push Aruba into having a larger presence in this sector.
During the last months, the foundation for a stronger maritime sector began taking shape. In the first stage, contact needed to be established with various big international organizations which are active in the sector. Thus contact was expanded with organizations of the American government and the government of the Netherlands. A good basis was established for the cooperation that is needed in order to achieve expansion of the presence of Aruba in the maritime sector.
In this context, on the 10th of August 2022, a delegation of the private sector of the Netherlands was welcomed, in the form of a society representing the ship owners in the Netherlands, which is KVNR – Koninklijke Vereninging van Nederlandse Reders. Participating for the KVNR was their managing director, Mrs. Annet Koster, and jurist of KVNR, Mr. Lodewijk Wisse. This organization has among its members renowned companies with a high reputation representing almost 2,400 large vessels. Most of these ships sail under the flag of the Netherlands.
A big step for Aruba in the maritime sector is to activate the ship registry of Aruba. In the Kingdom there are three registries, being the Netherlands, Curaçao and one registry in Aruba, which for some reason is not active. The mission of minister Arends is to reactivate the register for Aruba, which is a Kingdome registry, and this is something for which KVNR showed interest, so that Aruba can develop this registry in a modern and efficient way. With this the maritime sector will be expanded, which will have a direct effect on Aruba’s economy because the ships on the ocean depend on logistics from land; logistics in the sense of materials and also various legal and financial aspects.
Minister Arends indicated however that he requested to have the maritime sector in his ministry because it is a critical sector for Aruba, but sadly, not many people understand this, and for many years this sector was profoundly neglected. What’s regrettable about this is that the available resources are very limited, and in order to reactivate the sector, it will be necessary to work in a creative way.
Part of the solution is for Aruba to work in cooperation with the other islands. Every island and the Netherlands will benefit from the ‘economics of scale’, which such a cooperation carries with it. This is why it’s very important that the havenmeester of Bonaire, Mr. Gunther Flanegin, facilitated this meeting and engaged also together with KVNR and the government of Aruba.
During his visit at the Ocean Conference, minister Arends agreed with minister of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands, Mark Harbers, that Aruba will appreciate the sharing of know-how from the Netherlands on this field. Aruba is preparing the foundation for a strong maritime sector and is counting with cooperation of the Netherlands to achieve this.
