In practice, this means that the onboard equipment still suitable for use will be transferred to the newly delivered AFRICA MERCY II, which by then will have just completed its delivery voyage from its builders to the African Continent. This was announced by Stefan Sonesson, National Director of Mercy Ships Sweden, during the Shippax Ferry Conference 2026.

An end date and place have thus now been set for AFRICA MERCY, which after eight years of conversion entered service for Mercy Ships in 2007 as the world’s largest civilian hospital ship. The former railway ferry, purpose-built for the Great Belt crossing, replaced the organization’s previous hospital ship, ANASTASIS, which had originally been built in 1953 as the Italian passenger liner VICTORIA.

In 2021, Mercy Ships took delivery of the newly built GLOBAL MERCY from Tianjin Xingang Shipyard in China, developed and built with support from Stena RoRo. GLOBAL MERCY thereby took over the title as the world’s largest civilian hospital ship and will now be joined by a sister ship, AFRICA MERCY II, which is scheduled for delivery in 2028 and is expected to become fully operational as a hospital ship in 2029. AFRICA MERCY II is being built at Guangzhou Shipyard International in China, this time with MSC Group as the primary sponsor of the newbuilding project.

© Shippax