After a ceremony at the shipyard in China, the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, the Global Mercy, was delivered to the charity organization Mercy Ships. Stena RoRo has been working with the global project since 2013. The maiden voyage is to Europe where the Global Mercy will be further outfitted before continuing to Senegal for her first contribution to Mercy Ship’s important work in providing life-changing healthcare to the world’s poorest.
The Global Mercy has been built at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard in northern China under the project management of Stena RoRo. A ceremony was held there, that by tradition will bring happiness to the ship and its crew on the seven seas, in the presence of representatives from Stena RoRo, Mercy Ships and the shipyard, as well as several partners.
“We are very proud to take delivery of this special ship,” says Per Westling, managing director for Stena RoRo. “The activities to be carried out on board have placed certain special and stringent demands on shipbuilding. For the shipyard, it was the first time they had built a vessel of this type – a challenge they have managed extremely well. For Mercy Ships, the delivery means that their capacity to provide care has more than doubled, and at Stena RoRo we are happy to be a part of their fantastic work through the construction of the Global Mercy.”
The journey to Senegal has begun
The ship’s captain is Taylor Perez. Together with a crew recruited by the Stena company Northern Marine Manning Services and flown to China, he is now sailing the Global Mercy on her maiden voyage to Belgium, where over the course of a few months she will be staffed with volunteers and have the last of the medical equipment installed. She will then continue to Rotterdam to be presented to sponsors, future volunteers, the media and other interested parties. After that, the Global Mercy will be ready to sail to West Africa for service at Dakar in Senegal.
Mercy Ships makes a big difference for many people
Mercy Ships provides free healthcare to the world’s poorest. The Global Mercy has among other things, six operating theatres, beds for 200 people, a laboratory and eye clinic. The ship is the first to have been designed and built for the specific needs of the organization. Previous vessels have been built for other operations and converted into hospital ships. Mercy Ships, whose work is based on the efforts of volunteers from all over the world, also contributes to the establishment of local skills and the infrastructure for medical care by training local healthcare personnel in the host countries. Due to this, the Global Mercy is also equipped with first-class training facilities.
A global project under Swedish management
The project started back in 2013. Swedish Stena RoRo has been responsible for the design, contracting and execution of the unique and global project. French Barry Rogliano Salles, BRS, has served as the broker, detailed design was by Finnish Deltamarin and construction has been carried out at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard in China. The Global Mercy, classified by Lloyd’s Register in the United Kingdom, will sail under the Maltese flag and operate along the coast of Africa.
A selection of suppliers involved in the project:
ABB – Main propulsion system, generators
Alfa Laval – Plate coolers
Berg Propulsion – Bow thruster
Consilium Marine & Safety – Fire alarm system
Evac – Waste handling and recycling
MacGregor – Shell doors and gangways
Scan Marine – Supervision of installation interior in accommodation areas
Selektope – Coating agent
Wärtsilä – Generator engines
The ship is rated for passenger traffic and, when in port, can accommodate 950 people including a crew of 641.
About the Global Mercy:
Length: 174 meters
Beam: 28.6 meters
Draught: 6.15 meters
Gross tonnage: 37,000 tonnes
Deadweight: 5,448 tonnes
Total area, interior: 30,000 square meters
About Mercy Ships
Through its hospital vessels, Mercy Ships provides free high-quality healthcare, building up healthcare capacity and providing sustainable development to those with the least resources. Mercy Ships was founded by Don and Deyon Stephens in 1978 and has since operated in more than 55 developing countries, contributing care and development worth more than SEK 17 billion and treating more than 2.8 million people. Ships’ crews consist of approximately 1,200 volunteers each year from more than 60 countries. They are surgeons, dentists, nurses, nursing educators, teachers, chefs, sailors, engineers and agricultural experts who volunteer their time and skills. With offices in 16 countries and an African center, Mercy Ships strives to make a difference for individuals and to assist nations. www.mercyships.se
