Photo: Mercy Ships
This mammoth vessel is not about flaunting the latest luxuries or integrating zero-emission technologies. Its only purpose is to save lives, improve the quality of life for people who may not enjoy the same access to modern healthcare as the rest of the world, and train others to continue this humanitarian work.
Turning a RoPax ship (mixed passenger and cargo capabilities) into a floating hospital was no easy task. The Sweden-based Stena RoRo took on this project in 2013. It resulted in a massive civilian hospital ship that’s considered the largest of its kind in the world, which was recently inaugurated in Dakar, Senegal.
The builder had to integrate operating theaters and laboratories instead of the previous car decks, which led to a hospital section that unfolds over 75,300 square feet (7,000 square meters). This includes six operating theaters, a laboratory, an eye clinic, a dental clinic, and several general outpatient clinics. The floating hospital is large enough to accommodate 200 patients and a total of 950 occupants, including volunteers and crew members.
Some of the extensive work that Stena RoRo had to do included designing not just a special layout for the vessel but also a special hull shape, adding a custom ventilation system, and keeping noise and vibrations to a minimum.
Named Global Mercy, this unique vessel has already kicked off its first mission on the African continent by providing surgical training for more than 250 Senegalese healthcare workers. Together with its sister ship Africa Mercy, it will help conduct more than 5,000 surgeries and 28,000 dental treatments per year. And it’s expected to continue doing that over the next 50 years.
Global Mercy is the first custom floating hospital built from scratch for Mercy Ships, an NGO that supports medical care throughout West and Central Africa. The NGO also operates Africa Mercy, a retrofitted hospital ship.
The builder had to integrate operating theaters and laboratories instead of the previous car decks, which led to a hospital section that unfolds over 75,300 square feet (7,000 square meters). This includes six operating theaters, a laboratory, an eye clinic, a dental clinic, and several general outpatient clinics. The floating hospital is large enough to accommodate 200 patients and a total of 950 occupants, including volunteers and crew members.
Some of the extensive work that Stena RoRo had to do included designing not just a special layout for the vessel but also a special hull shape, adding a custom ventilation system, and keeping noise and vibrations to a minimum.
Named Global Mercy, this unique vessel has already kicked off its first mission on the African continent by providing surgical training for more than 250 Senegalese healthcare workers. Together with its sister ship Africa Mercy, it will help conduct more than 5,000 surgeries and 28,000 dental treatments per year. And it’s expected to continue doing that over the next 50 years.
Global Mercy is the first custom floating hospital built from scratch for Mercy Ships, an NGO that supports medical care throughout West and Central Africa. The NGO also operates Africa Mercy, a retrofitted hospital ship.
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