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MV Fort Jefferson Heading To Caribbean With Relief Supplies

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By NPT Staff - September 25th, 2017

The MV Fort Jefferson left port Monday for the Caribbean, carrying more than 24 tons of supplies for the hurricane relief and recovery effort/NPS

Loaded with more than 24 tons of supplies and equipment, the MV Fort Jefferson, the National Park Service vehicle normally assigned to Dry Tortugas National Park, headed east Monday for the Caribbean to help with the hurricane relief and recovery effort.

It was expected to take the 110-foot ship 78 hours to travel from Key West to the Caribbean.

“We are grateful to Dry Tortugas National Park for use of their vessel to get critical supplies to our Caribbean parks,” said EIMT Incident Commander James King. “When I contacted Park Superintendent Pedro Ramos, he didn’t bat an eye and immediately offered his support.”

On Sunday, EIMT logistics personnel loaded more than 20 pallets of food, water, fuel, and generators on the vessel. Three National Park Service boat crewmembers along with four law enforcement rangers were accompanying the shipment. The boat was transporting supplies and resources to Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John and Christiansted National Historic Site on the island of St. Croix.

Along with transporting supplies for the National Park Service, the vessel was also transporting six pallets of supplies for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency has employees on the Caribbean Islands, who normally work at three national wildlife refuges.

Employee accountability and care continue to be primary concerns of the National Park Service. Employees at all six national parks in the Caribbean have been accounted for, with the exception of San Juan National Historic Site, where employee communications are currently hampered by power outages, flooding, and inaccessible roadways, a Park Service release said.

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