Last weekend, Tenerife welcomed back the hospital ship Global Mercy, belonging to the NGO Mercy Ships in Spain, Ships of Hope, to the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife to carry out essential maintenance services after five months of successful humanitarian work in Dakar, Senegal.
Dozens of Spanish companies and contractors will collaborate on the ship's maintenance tasks to allow it to return to Africa after a month in Tenerife, this time for 10 months of surgeries and training in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
“We are grateful that Tenerife has remained the home port for our hospital ships since 1991. Thanks to this unwavering support, our ships have been able to benefit our African partners, who are motivated to provide excellent care to their patients and continue their professional development. We are looking forward to this annual maintenance period and preparations for our next humanitarian mission, which will take place in Sierra Leone,” stated Gerardo Vangioni, Director of Ships of Hope. “Companies based in Tenerife will contribute their services and expertise to the maintenance of the world’s largest civilian hospital ship,” Vangioni added.
During their stay in Senegal, the hospital ship's crew was able to perform nearly 800 free surgical procedures and train more than 600 healthcare professionals who will be able to continue strengthening Senegal's surgical systems even after the Global Mercy sets sail for its next destination.
Thanks to the hospitality of the governments of Senegal and Gambia, Ships of Hope was able to treat patients from both countries through a single port on its latest visit. This is a historic first for the NGO, enabling a greater number of people to access the safe and free surgical care they needed. This is crucial, as Ships of Hope focuses its work in sub-Saharan Africa, where 9 out of 10 people currently lack access to safe surgery, according to a Lancet Commission report.
This humanitarian mission marked the organization's third consecutive visit to Senegal with a hospital ship. Since 2019, even despite a pause caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Africa Mercy and the Global Mercy have performed 2,966 surgeries on 2,707 patients while the Ships of Hope vessels were docked in Senegal.
This year, providing safe surgical care and training required the help of volunteers from around the world: 1,184 volunteers from 59 countries and 272 local volunteers working in 30 different regions of Senegal. Support was also needed from more than 50 international corporate partners and many local partners in Senegal.
Meanwhile, outside of Senegal, Ships of Hope continues working to transform lives through partnerships and programs. In countries like Togo, Guinea, and Benin, Ships of Hope continues working to provide care ranging from dental treatments and cataract surgeries to pediatric anesthesia training, sustainable agriculture education, and much more.
After its annual maintenance in Tenerife, the hospital ship will arrive in Sierra Leone in mid-August, where its crew will serve their third country this year and bring hope and healing to even more families.
The hospital ship, the Global Mercy, is 174 meters long, 28.6 meters wide, and has a capacity for 200 patients. It features six operating rooms, a laboratory, a day hospital, and dental and ophthalmological clinics. The two hospital decks cover a total area of 7,000 square meters and are equipped with state-of-the-art training facilities. It has a crew of 641, drawn from more than 50 countries worldwide.
Applications are still open for volunteers who wish to share their time and experience in various roles on board during the humanitarian missions they will have in Sierra Leone with the Global Mercy or in 2024 with the Africa Mercy in Madagascar.
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