First responders and top government officials gathered on Veterans Drive to witness the dedication of a brand-new emergency response vessel. The Marine 1 was christened when a veteran firefighter smashed a champagne bottle across its bow.
The name Captain Antonio Hendricks appears on the bow of the 40-foot high-speed emergency response craft. Officials speaking at the brief Friday ceremony praised the boat’s namesake for his years of public service as a firefighter and his decades-long efforts to enhance marine-based emergency response.
Fire Service Director Antonio Stevens called the addition of Marine 1 an asset that expands his agency’s capabilities. “Today is truly a day to celebrate, not only for the christening of the boat and what it means to operations, but also for the public servant for whom it is named after,” Stevens said. “Captain Hendricks worked tirelessly to expand the agency’s marine firefighting capabilities and served as the first captain of the fire service’s first fireboat — the Gail Benjamin.”
Created by boat builders in New York and in Canada, the vessel is powered by three Yamaha engines and has high-powered water jets mounted on board. The stern of the boat was modified to allow emergency crews to conduct rescues at sea. It was also designed to accommodate a gurney to transport the sick and injured.
Those features allow Marine 1 to serve as an alternative ambulance boat for patients living or traveling on watercraft and for St. John patients being transported to St. Thomas, officials said.
Speaking to a visitor after the ceremony, Hendricks said he began his campaign to acquire a marine response boat throughout his 25 years of service. “When I realized we really needed a fireboat was fighting that fire — the Angelina Lauro,” he said.
Angelina Lauro was a Dutch-flagged cruise ship that caught fire while berthed on St. Thomas in March 1979. “We fought the fire shoreside; the fire started at three o’clock in the afternoon. We didn’t get a fireboat at twelve thirty in the morning, the next day — Hess (oil refinery) sent a boat over,” he said.
In modern times boat-based fire emergencies happen about three times a year on average, said Deputy Fire Service Director Clarence Stephenson. He and others said the new boat will help speed response times.
Hendricks added that Marine 1 can also assist in cases of fire emergencies at land-based facilities like the Water and Power Authority and the St. Croix-based oil refinery.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach hailed the latest development as a step toward supporting the Virgin Islands’ blue economy.
