Africa Mercy® returns to Spain to join Global Mercy® after successful 10 months in Senegal
Two ship crews join together to finish equipping and crewing of newest Mercy Ship for first surgical service in the new year.
GRANADILLA, SPAIN, 05 December 2022 - The hospital ship Africa Mercy® returned from Senegal this past weekend and docked near Mercy Ships’ newest hospital ship, the Global Mercy® in the Port of Granadilla. Africa Mercy crew will support the final phase of training and preparation for the Global Mercy’s first-ever surgical field service to Africa, which is scheduled to begin next February in Senegal.
A number of key medical, programmatic and administrative crew from the Africa Mercy will transfer to the Global Mercy to join existing crew and help ensure a cohesive operational start to full surgical services on board the new vessel during the Global Mercy’s first ever surgical mission to Dakar Senegal next year.
Mercy Ships is an international NGO that operates hospital ships to deliver free, world-class healthcare services, medical capacity building, and health system strengthening to those with little access to safe surgical care.
Destination: Senegal
The Africa Mercy was docked in Dakar since February of this year, to complete surgical commitments that were delayed due the covid outbreak the past year. This year Mercy Ships provided training and mentoring for 1,145 Senegalese healthcare professionals to encourage and empower them to provide safer surgery for their patients.
This included training on the Global Mercy which visited Senegal in May for inaugural events hosted by His Excellency President Macky Sall. Training and mentoring took place onboard and in hospitals across the country. The 695 patients who received orthopaedic, maxillo-facial, reconstructive, women’s health and general surgeries this past year on the Africa Mercy came from 14 regions across rural and urban Senegal.
The Africa Mercy was in Senegal to keep Mercy Ships’ promise to return after having to suspend surgeries during covid.
“We are thankful that the Tenerife continues to be a home port of call since 1991 for our ships during many significant transitions like this. Due to this consistency, our ships have been able to benefit our African partners who are motivated to care for their patients well and to continue growing as healthcare professionals. We look forward to our new ship returning next year to continue building on the work and relationships accomplished thus far,” stated Gerardo Vangioni, Director Mercy Ships Spain.
Doubling the impact in Africa
While the Global Mercy begins this initial mission, the Africa Mercy will undergo a significant refit in Durban, South Africa. When both ships are in full service in 2024, Mercy Ships will aim to perform more than 5,000 surgeries, more than 28,000 dental treatments and train more than 2,800 medical professionals each year. Mercy Ships serves those with little access to life-transforming surgeries and supports African nations with additional training for health professionals while strengthening infrastructures.
The world's largest private hospital ship, the Global Mercy
While in Port of Granadilla these past months, technicians have been fitting out the hospital with final equipment and testing systems. Unique as a ship in the passenger class, the Global Mercy is 174 meters in length, 28.6 meters in width and a gross tonnage of 37,000. It has 6 operating rooms, 200 beds, laboratory, general outpatient clinics and ophthalmological and dental offices. The total area of the hospital department is 7,000 m². It has capacity for 641 crew members. Both ships together have crew from more than 60 nations around the world.