Get to know Mercy Ships, The Global Mercy and Sierra Leone

www.mercyships.org.uk

The Charity and their work

The Ship - The Global Mercy

The Global Mercy is the largest charity-run hospital ship in the world. The 174-meter, 37,000-ton ship has six operating rooms and houses over 600 volunteers from around the globe representing many disciplines including surgeons, maritime crew, cooks, teachers, electricians, the host staff and more. The ship also features a 682-seat auditorium, student academy, café, shop and library – all of which have been designed to accommodate up to 950 crew onboard when docked in port.

The onboard hospital has six general wards, an isolation ward, an intensive care unit (ICU) and self-care beds. It accommodates 200 hospital beds, including 102 acute care beds and 90 self-care beds. The deck four area also house the outpatient department (OPD), along with a rehabilitation facility, a radiology facility with a computerised tomography (CT) scanner, and an eye programme facility.

The surgical suite, on deck three, has six operating rooms, two hospital supply rooms, a pharmacy, a biomed lab, and a simulation lab.

More about the ship:

Background - https://swzmaritime.nl/news/2022/07/28/all-you-want-to-know-about-mercy-ships-new-hospital-ship-global-mercy/

Ship specification - https://www.marinelink.com/news/ship-month-mercy-ships-quest-build-global-490740

Construction - https://stenaroro.com/cases/global-mercy/

Sea trials - https://www.plant.ca/plant-industry/worlds-largest-civilian-hospital-ship-the-global-mercy-passes-final-sea-trials-200860/

Fit-out - https://indiashippingnews.com/largest-private-hospital-ship-in-the-world-the-global-mercy-almost-in-antwerp/

Sierra Leone

The first Global Mercy visit to Sierra Leone in August 2023

The country is one of the poorest in the world, ranking in the 10 lowest countries on the Human Development Index, based on life expectancy, education level and standard of living.