The trials, which lasted several days, covered engine performance and fuel consumption, navigation and radio equipment, maneuverability and safety systems.
The Lloyd’s Register-rated vessel was built at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard in northern China, with Stena RoRo AB of Gothenburg, Sweden, managing the project, and Deltamarin of Turku, Finland, designing the ship. A French shipping agent, Barry Rogliano Salles (BRS Group), helped prepare the contract.
For Tianjin Xingang, it was the first time this type of vessel had been built, according to the company.
“The purpose of a sea trial is to ensure that the ship’s systems function properly during operation and that the requirements of the applicable specifications and standards are met,” said Per Westling, CEO of Stena RoRo.
The hospital services to be provided on the Global Mercy involve increased requirements for good ventilation and minimization of vibrations, for example. This was also checked and approved in all aspects, Westling stressed.
“The team has mixed nationalities and part of the work has been to reconcile the different cultures. An important task has been to ensure that the ship is built according to specification,” added Rikard Olsson, project manager and construction manager.
The project started in 2013 and, after several years of construction, the vessel performed well in the final testing phase, according to the company.
Global Mercy’s equipment and crew
Stena RoRo has based the project on a passenger and cargo vessel concept for international RoPax-class voyages. The 174-meter-long, 37,000-ton Global Mercy has been modified to a passenger ship design with hospital activities.
It will have six operating rooms, 200 hospital beds, as well as a laboratory, a patient clinic and an ophthalmology and dental clinic.
In addition, the ship will be equipped with training facilities, including equipment for virtual reality training and other simulations of care and methods for use in resource-limited settings. It will help to strengthen the essential medical and surgical skills of healthcare professionals.
On board are schools and preschools, as well as family cabins, for children and volunteers.
The capacity amounts to 950 persons, of which 641 berths are reserved for crew members.
Final preparations and launch event
The vessel will now make its maiden voyage to the port of Antwerp (Belgium), where the final outfitting and crew manning process will be completed. It will then visit Rotterdam, where it will be presented to its sponsors and other interested parties.
After this final European farewell, it will sail to West Africa, where it will join its sister ship, the Africa Mercy.
Mercy Ships plans to hold the handover event in Dakar, Senegal, in 2022. Six hundred volunteers from around the world are expected to join the crew, as the project aims to improve the African healthcare system.
The ship will sail under the Maltese flag while serving along the coast of Africa.
“The Global Mercy is a special project that we are proud to be a part of. Mercy Ships is doing a fantastic job and with the new ship, their ability to provide free medical care to many extremely vulnerable people will more than double,” concluded Westling.
