About Mercy Ships

Mercy Ships operates the world’s largest charity hospital ship delivering free health care to the forgotten poor.

Around the world, millions of people live in fear and desperation, with impure water, inadequate food, and little or no access to health care. Behind every statistic is a story, a life – a person waiting for hope and healing. For those who come into contact with Mercy Ships, they never forget the day everything changed.

Since 1978, Mercy Ships has provided services in developing nations valued at more than £355 million, including the following:

• Performed more than 35,000 life-changing operations such as cleft lip and palate repair, cataract removal, orthopaedic procedures, facial reconstruction and obstetric fistula repair.

• Treated over 238,000 people in village medical clinics.

• Performed more than 194,000 dental treatments.

• Taught over 14,500 local health care and professional workers, who have in turn trained many others.

• Taught 105,000 local people in primary health care.

• Delivered more than £28 million worth of medical equipment, hospital and other supplies.

• Completed over 950 community development projects focusing on water & sanitation, education, infrastructure development and agriculture.

Our history

In 1978, a team led by Founders Don and Deyon Stephens began the process of finding a suitable vessel to fulfil their dream of a hospital ship that would reach out to the world’s poorest people.

On July 7th 1978, this dream became a reality. The first Mercy Ship, a retired ocean liner called Victoria, was purchased for £600,000. Don and Deyon began recruiting crew for the ship and raising funds to bring the Mercy Ship into compliance with international standards.
 
Ongoing efforts over four years resulted in the transformation of the passenger vessel into a hospital ship.  With the addition of 3 operating theatres and a 40 bed ward, the vessel became an 11,701 tonne floating hospital, carrying a volunteer crew of 350 from all over the world. In 1982, the vessel sailed as the newly christened Anastasis – the first Mercy Ship.

Since then, various ships in the Mercy Ships fleet have served in more than 150 ports in developing nations around the world, bringing lasting change to hundred of thousands of lives.