MSC Group, the parent company of MSC Cruises, and the charity Mercy Ships International have reached an agreement to build a new hospital ship in coordination with MSC Foundation.

The new ship will provide free medical checks ups, surgery, and training to thousands of people in Africa and will be Mercy Ships second purpose-built hospital vessel. The organisation currently operates two hospital ships, but only Global Mercy was designed as a medical vessel.

Africa Mercy is a former rail ferry vessel that spent much of her life operating in Denmark before being acquired by Mercy Ships.

The agreement was finalized by Captain Gianluigi Aponte, Chairman of MSC Group and MSC Foundation, Diego Aponte, MSC Group President, and Mercy Ships Founder Don Stephens.

“I spent part of my childhood and early years in the shipping industry in the Horn of Africa, it is a region close to my heart,” said Captain Aponte. “I saw firsthand the challenges faced by many local communities there and this shaped my conviction that improving the availability of healthcare would bring real and lasting impact for them. 

The new ship will have the capacity to accommodate approximately 600 crew members and guests, with the 7,000sqm hospital spanning two decks. It will offer six operating rooms, a fully equipped laboratory and training spaces including a simulation lab. 

“This new hospital ship brings state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to support the nations we serve,” said Gert van de Weerdhof, CEO, Mercy Ships. “This new vessel and her future crew will enable us to meet surgical needs while supporting host nations as they develop healthcare systems with their next generation of medical professionals.”

Mercy Ships is an international charity that operates the largest non-governmental hospital ships in the world, providing surgical care and surgical education, community development projects, community health education, mental health programs, agriculture projects, and palliative care for terminally ill patients in several countries in Africa. 

The group was founded in. the 1970s but since 2011 has provided 18,000 medical professionals and community leaders with training, and 30,300 patients of all ages through 33,200 with surgeries from cataracs proceedures to complex tumour removal.