Archives



Feature, Freight News, Sea


Delivering hope to the dockside: Stena teams up with Mercy Ships

[ February 13, 2017   //   ]

Stena Line has signed a long-term partnership to raise and promote volunteering and charitable giving for the Mercy Ships charity.

Mercy Ships operates the largest civilian hospital-ship in the world to deliver free, world-class health care services to the world’s poorest people along with helping to create health facilities in the developing world.  It has helped over 2.5 million people since 1978.

The ship’s crew is made up of more than 400 volunteers from up to 40 nations. Surgeons, nurses, technical, marine and many other professionals, an average of a 1 000 volunteers yearly, pay their own expenses to aid those in need of safe surgical expertise and healthcare.

Stena chief executive, Niclas Mårtensson, said: “We have found a partner with the right qualifications and commitment who, like us, sees the advantages and flexibility in having the sea and ships as workplace. Our partnership with Mercy Ships now becomes an important part of that work and it gives us an exciting opportunity to involve our staff, customers and partners in making a difference.”

Head of marketing for the charity, Pascal Andréasson, said that Stena Line “have taken our mission to their heart and it is great to see their willingness to partner with us to support the work we do,” stated

In January, Stena Line’s CEO Niclas Mårtensson visited the Africa Mercy, currently docked in Cotonou Benin, to see for himself the work done on-board. The Mercy Ship is a former Scandinavian rail ferry which was converted to a hospital ship with five operating theatres and spends ten months at a time in African port cities.

Stena Line’s vessels and social channels will be able to reach some 10 million people every year with information about Mercy Ships. In Spring2017 Stena Line will cooperate with Mercy Ships Sweden to bring awareness of the charity’s on its vessels in all of Europe and is also presently working to set up a programme for sponsoring staff and crew who would like to join as volunteers on Mercy Ships vessels.

Tags: ,