Volunteer crew are sought by international development charity Mercy Ships for its new vessel, Global Mercy – the world’s largest civilian hospital ship.
The 174m-long, 37,000gt vessel – part of a growing fleet – was built in China, and recently made its maiden voyage to Antwerp, Belgium. During the six-month equipping phase in Antwerp, it will be further prepared and crewed to save lives through surgery in Africa.
Mercy Ships has an average of 1,185 volunteer crew from more than 60 nations serving onboard its hospital ships each year. Since 1978, Mercy Ships has delivered services to more than 2.84 million beneficiaries and delivered services and materials in developing countries valued at over $1.7 billion.
Volunteer crew, from all walks of life, are needed with more than 200 roles to choose from, including medical, surgical, engineering, and culinary professions.
For the records, the world’s only purpose-built, civilian-funded charity hospital ship, Global Mercy recently arrived into port of Antwerp for the final stages of outfitting the hospital and IT systems.
What is more, Global Mercy is a unique ship in the passenger class: 174 meters long, 28.6 meters wide and a gross tonnage of 37,000. It has 6 operating rooms, 200 beds, a laboratory, general outpatient clinics and eye and dental clinics. The total area of the hospital department is 7,000 m².
Concluding, in the spring of 2022, Mercy Ships plans to open the ship to the public for tours in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, before beginning active service with the Global Mercy in Dakar (Senegal), the first of many new missions in the next 50 years.
