Health
GLOBAL MERCY sets sail on health care mission to Senegal
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
June 6, 2022 – The Global Mercy is a ship like no other, at first glance it could almost be mistaken for a cruise ship due to its size and the sheer amount of rooms it has. While the Global Mercy will take passengers who will stay on board for a while it’s not for recreation but for health as the Global Mercy is the world’s first purpose built and largest hospital ship.
The Global Mercy made its working debut in its first host nation at the Senegalese port of Dakar on May 30th. The ship had previously docked in the Netherlands but is now officially docked in Dakar where it will remain for some
Mercy Ships, the owners of the Global Mercy, is an international humanitarian organization with partners in Africa. The organization and its partners across the continent came together for the inaugural sailing to make concrete plans to improve surgical care in Africa.
The Global Mercy will work alongside a converted hospital vessel the Africa Mercy, which has been in Dakar since early February.
Mercy Ships says it expects to “more than double the impact of its work with this new vessel, both with life-changing operations and with education and training of local health professionals in host nations within Africa.”
The Global Mercy will be able to hold 959 people including 641 volunteer crew members.
Additionally there are training facilities on board which “will contribute to the sustainable development of local medical care in many countries.”
The passenger ship is 174 meters long, 28.6 meters wide and a gross tonnage of 37,000. It has six operating rooms, 200 beds, a laboratory, general outpatient clinics and eye and dental clinics.
The total area of the hospital is 7,000 m².