Antwerp ... one of the biggest ports in the world and only about 80 km from my home. I visit this port often to photograph passenger ships, local landmarks and historic sites or events, this time I was in the area and decided to stop at a viewpoint not often visited, but one that offers great views on the largest open passageway into the various docks of the port of Antwerp and a view on the Lillo bridge.
Right next to the Harbour Police station in front of the viewpoint, the Global Mercy was docked to be fitted out by a team of volunteers and professionals with support of various organisations in Belgium. The Global Mercy is the first purpose built civil hospital ship and by the looks of it, she was more or less built like a passenger ferry as the design was done by Stena RoRo, a well known ferry operator in Europe. The actual build was done in China but fitting out was not possible in China and was done in Belgium because of better expertise in these areas.
I went to see the ship and was impressed by the appearance and size, not the biggest ship I have ever seen at 174 meters long, but given that this is not a commercial ship, she is pretty big, she will actually never earn a penny so the operation is funded solely by gifts worldwide.
Recently the famous Belgian comic book series Suske & Wiske has published a story featuring the Global Mercy as a center piece, of course I have bought a copy as seen here.
Link to official website of Mercy ships: www.mercyships.org
Here are a few shots of the ship while she was docked in Antwerp in October 2021.