Mercy

The USNS 'Mercy' has departed the Alabama Shipyard on Feb 24, transiting southbound through the Gulf of Mexico at about 10.5 knots, closing out months of drydock work while fresh questions swirl about the next assignment. The timing has put the 'Mercy’s movements under a spotlight. Theship had been expected to return to the West Coast for a scheduled $90 million maintenance period withthe Vigor Industrial in Portland starting in March. The Alabama yard period addressed urgent drydock repairs tied to a ballast tank failure and was separate from the upcoming regulatory docking and inspection work. The ship was slated to shift back to the West Coast to resume shipyard availability in Oregon through September 2026.

Greenland. Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has rejected Donald Trump's "offer" from Feb 21, 2026, to send a hospital ship to Greenland. "It's going to be a no thanks from here," wrote Jens-Frederik Nielsen. “Trump’s idea of sending an American hospital ship here to Greenland has been noted. But we have a public healthcare system where treatment is free for citizens. It is a deliberate choice. But talk to us instead of just making more or less random outbursts on social media", adding that Greenland remained open to dialog and cooperation, also with the U.S. Mads Fuglede, a historian and US analyst, did not believe that Trump's plan will come to fruition. He pointed out that Trump's idea came at the same time that a crew member of an American submarine was evacuated by helicopter from the Danish inspection ship 'Vædderen' to be treated at the hospital in Nuuk: "The only logical explanation I can find for Trump's offer is that the evacuation took place in Greenland, and that it has somehow triggered something in Donald Trump. And at the same time he can tease the stupid Danes," said Mads Fuglede, who also sits in the Folketing for the Danish Democrats. US President Donald Trump had stated to be concerned about the health of Greenlanders, and has therefore decided to send the hospital ship to Greenland, he wrote in a post on Truth Social: "Together with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry (Trump's special envoy for Greenland), we will send a fantastic hospital ship to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick and who are not getting the necessary treatment there. It is on the way!", attaching an AI-generated image of the USNS 'Mercy' sailing towards a sunrise. The dispatch of the hospital ship was confirmed by Governor Jeff Landry. While U.S. President Donald Trump said he would deploy a hospital ship to Greenland and showed an AI picture of the 'Mercy', alleging that many people there were sick and not receiving care, in fact both of the U.S. Navy’s hospital ships were docked at a shipyard in Alabama. The USNS 'Comfort' wass undergoing repairs that were expected to be completed in April, while the USNS 'Mercy' was in the middle of a one-year maintenance period that began in July 2025. Trump’s announcement prompted a defens of Denmark and Greenland’s health care system from their leaders on Feb 22, and it was the latest point of friction with Trump. Trump's "social" media post about a hospital ship came after Denmark's military said its arctic command forces on Feb 21 had evacuated a crew member of a U.S. submarine off the coast of Greenland for urgent medical treatment. The Danish Joint Arctic Command said the crew member was evacuated seven nautical miles off Nuuk and transferred to a hospital in the city. The crew member was retrieved by a Danish Seahawk helicopter. Trump referred to his special envoy for Greenland and said, “Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way!!!” “We have a public health care system where treatment is free for citizens. That is a deliberate choice — and a fundamental part of our society. That is not how it works in the USA, where it costs money to see a doctor,” Nielsen said, adding in a note of exasperation, that Greenland is always open to dialogue and cooperation. “But please talk to us instead of just making more or less random statements on social media." The Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Danish authorities had not been informed that the U.S. ship was on its way, which was in fact impossible with the ships being in a yard. The Pentagon referred questions about the status of the U.S. Navy’s two hospital ships, the USNS 'Mercy' and USNS 'Comfort', to the U.S. Northern Command, which in turn referred to the Navy, which in turn referred to the White House, which didn’t want to talk about it. So when Trump publicly declared that a U.S. hospital ship was “on the way” to Greenland, that apparently wasn’t true. The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen meanwhile defended Denmark’s health care system, writing that she was “happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all. Where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment. You have the same approach in Greenland.” Aaja Chemnitz, one of the two Greenlandic politicians in the Danish parliament, wrote that "Donald Trump wants to send a poorly maintained hospital ship to Greenland. It seems rather desperate and does not contribute to the permanent and sustainable strengthening of the health care system that we need. “Another day. Another crazy news story." The US Navy, without context, needed help from the Greenlandic health system over the weekend when a crew member on an American submarine - which for unknown reasons was in Nuuk Bay - became so seriously ill that he required hospital treatment. A helicopter from the Danish inspection ship 'Vædderen' evacuated the crew member and flew him to the hospital in Nuuk for treatment.

Despite the dire need of extra beds for Covid-19 hit people in California, the USNS 'Mercy', which was deployed to assist during the first corona wave in spring 2020, cannot come to the rescue now, as it's at the yard. There are now so many Covid-19 affected Americans in the Los Angeles area that ambulance drivers were told not to drive patients to hospitals if they have only a small chance of surviving. Therefore, more hospital beds were desperately needed. Authorities in Los Angeles have asked the US Navy to send the USNS 'Mercy' again. But the Navy has replied that the ship is not available. It is docked at the Vigor Industrial yard in Portland, Oregon, where it is undergoing a major overhaul and is unable to sail. The ship has been at the shipyard since July, where it will undergo a major upgrade that will extend the ship's life to 2036, and it will not be ready for action until later in the spring.

The San Diego-based USNS 'Mercy' returned to its home port on May 15, 2020, after seven weeks in Los Angeles assisting with patients during the coronavirus pandemic. It left the Port of Los Angeles about 7 a.m. and was expected at Naval Base San Diego in the afternoon. The ship left San Diego on March 23 just as community spread of the novel coronavirus was increasing and state officials were concerned hospitals would be inundated with patients. The USNS 'Mercy' was to serve as a relief valve, taking on non-coronavirus patients and freeing up space in Los Angeles hospitals. The ship saw 77 patients over about six weeks. It discharged its final patient May 5. While in Los Angeles, the medical staff performed several surgeries, including the ship’s first-ever pacemaker replacement. They also treated a single victim of a vehicle collision, performing eight surgeries, skin grafts and an orthopedic spine procedure on the patient. All treatment was free to patients. While the COVID-19 patient wave never overwhelmed L.A. hospitals, the ship did fight its own coronavirus outbreak on board. Several sailors tested positive and were removed from the ship for isolation. The majority of those sailors have recovered and have returned to duty. Some medical personnel were staying in Los Angeles and Orange County to assist at skilled nursing facilities. About a month ago, 40 sailors began working off the ship at one such facility. 20 more will also remain to help at others.

The US Navy has removed 116 medical personnel from the 'Mercy' after seven of them tested positive for the new coronavirus on April 14. The medical ship staff was taken to a nearby base and remains in quarantine. None have been hospitalized so far. It was not known where or how the sailors were infected. The ship left San Diego on March 23 and all personnel were screened before boarding. It arrived in Los Angeles four days later to relieve the city in the midst of the pandemic by accepting patients who were not infected with the virus. None of the more than 1,000 personnel on board were authorized to leave the ship after it left San Diego. The only people getting on and off the ship were the patients. The first case emerged last week as the ship prepared to receive elderly patients at qualified nursing homes in Los Angeles to protect them from exposure to the virus. The ship, with 1,000 beds, has so far received only 20 hospital patients and none have tested positive for the coronavirus or shown any symptoms of the disease. Two medical personnel on the ship who were tested positive came into close contact with a small number of patients, but they wore full protective gear, including gloves, N95 masks and goggles. The removal of the 116 crew members will not affect the ship's ability to treat patients. The Navy also plans to send some of its employees who have been screened and have completed a period of self-quarantine of 14 days working in Los Angeles. The navy has strictly followed the guidelines of disease control and prevention centers for hospitals and also carried out a thorough cleaning of the ship, including disinfection of the areas where the infected personnel could have been. Those on board practiced social distancing as best as possible.