page_title: Mercy Ships
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Mercy Ships / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Caribbean Mercy docked in Guatemala
context_page_description: Mercy Ships is an international charity. Mercy Ships currently operates the largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world, providing humanitarian aid like free health care, community development projects, community health education, mental health programs, agriculture projects, and palliative care for terminally ill patients.
  Mercy Ships has operated in more than 57 developing nations and 18 developed nations around the world, with a current focus on the countries of Africa.
  The organization has its International Support Center in Garden Valley, Texas. Mercy Ships also has 16 national resource offices in countries that include Spain, Britain, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, France, Korea, Denmark, Belgium, New Zealand, Sweden and Norway.
  A major inspiration for Mercy Ships president and founder Don Stephens was the work of the international hospital ship SS Hope. Stephens' research showed that 95 of the 100 largest cities in the world were port cities. Therefore, a hospital ship could deliver healthcare very efficiently to large numbers of people.
context_section_description: Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens. It has outfitted and operated a total of four hospital ships to serve developing nations since 1978. Originally, it was a part of the YWAM (Youth with a Mission) family of Christian ministries, before becoming a standalone organization in 2003. The organization uses retired ocean liners and ferries that have been transformed into floating hospitals.
  The first ocean liner acquired was the Victoria, which was purchased for its scrap value of US$1 million. The nine-deck vessel was transformed into the hospital ship MV Anastasis over a four-year period. The 522-foot ship was equipped with three operating rooms, a dental clinic, an x-ray machine, a laboratory and 40 patient beds. The ship's 350-member crew included Mercy Ships founders Don and Deyon Stephens, who lived on board the ship with their four young children for ten years.
  In 1983, the Anastasis (the Greek word for "resurrection") began operations in the South Pacific, then moved to Central America and the Caribbean Sea in the mid-80s. The ship moved on to Africa in 1991 and remained in service there until 2007. The final port of call for the Anastasis was Monrovia, Liberia.
  Mercy Ships purchased the Norwegian coastal ferry Polarlys in 1994 and transformed it into the MV Caribbean Mercy, a hospital ship serving Central American and Caribbean ports. The ship offered berths for 150 crew and was equipped initially for field medical clinics. Over the course of several years, the ship was equipped with modern eye-surgery capabilities. The first eye surgery was performed on board the Caribbean Mercy in early 1997, while the ship was docked in Guatemala. On land, volunteers from the Caribbean Mercy also provided dental, orthopedic and healthcare services. The Caribbean Mercy visited 138 ports of call and remained in service until May 2005.
  In 1983, the Canadian ferry Petite Forte was donated to Mercy Ships to provide relief operations in the Caribbean. Initially christened the Good Samaritan, the ship was re-christened the MV Island Mercy in 1994. The 60-berth vessel remained in service until spring of 2001. The countries it served included Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Guyana and Haiti. The ship also reached beyond the Caribbean with relief and medical operations in Guinea-Bissau, Western Samoa, the Tokelau Islands and New Zealand.
  Since 2000 Mercy Ships has the 16,500-ton flagship Africa Mercy, which measures almost 500 feet long. The Africa Mercy has greater capacity than all three previous Mercy Ships combined. A second, purpose-built hospital ship, the Global Mercy, is currently under construction. In May 2007, the Africa Mercy sailed into the port in Monrovia to meet up with the Anastasis, enabling crew, equipment and supplies to be transferred from the oldest Mercy Ship to the newest one.
  The Africa Mercy, the only current Mercy Ship, in 2007 made its official maiden voyage to Monrovia, Liberia, from the shipyard in England. In 2008, the Africa Mercy continued its service to Liberia—offering free surgeries, assistance in healthcare infrastructure development, and community-based preventive health care programs that benefited thousands of individuals and many communities. More than 1,200 surgical procedures and 10,000 dental procedures were completed, along with community health projects such as HIV/AIDS prevention and construction of wells and latrines.
  Early in 2010, the ship was docked in Lomé, Togo for the 2010 field service. In August 2010, the Africa Mercy went into shipyard in South Africa, where it was equipped with new, more efficient generators. In 2009, the ship was docked in Cotonou, Benin from February to December, providing free surgeries and medical care. Mercy Ships also worked with Beninese citizens on agriculture and water development projects on the ground in Benin. Before the Africa Mercy arrives in port, flyers are distributed to alert the public to the ship's upcoming visit. An advance team begins a massive screening of thousands of prospective patients, to see which men, women and chil
caption: Caribbean Mercy docked in Guatemala
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