Vine Trust’s new fully-equipped medical ship has set sail on an epic transatlantic voyage from Babcock’s Rosyth site to the remote Amazonian city of Iquitos in Peru.
MV Forth Hope, fitted out by Babcock staff, is the fourth healthcare vessel commissioned by the Edinburgh charity and its first brand new ship.
She is destined to provide life-changing primary healthcare services to isolated and vulnerable communities on the Peruvian Amazon.
Complete with a dental surgery, operating theatre, consultation rooms and a pharmacy, MV Forth Hope will become a floating healthcare centre, enabling international medical and dental volunteers and a team of local clinicians to provide free aid.
With a crew of volunteers, she will be at sea for a six-week voyage from Rosyth to Las Palmas, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Macapa in Brazil, to then make her way along the Amazon.
Named by the charity’s patron, Princess Anne, in May at Rosyth, the ship will help achieve lasting and effective development where it is needed most.
This vessel, outfitted with the support of Babcock and 30 private businesses, is expected to deliver more than two million over the next 20 years to communities who would otherwise be without access to the most basic medical care.
Vine Trust’s chief executive Willie McPherson said the impact of MV Forth Hope cannot be underestimated.
“Vine Trust has always sought to make a significant and lasting impact on the people we support, offering effective help to vulnerable and isolated communities living in poverty.
“The delivery of MV Forth Hope to the Amazon will double the current capacity of our Peru Medical Programme, enabling the provision of 100,000 consultations per annum, and provide invaluable primary healthcare services to remote riverine villages.”
Babcock Rosyth managing director Ian Donnelly said: “It was a real honour for Babcock to be involved in such a worthwhile project.
“Our team worked really hard to transform MV Forth Hope and everyone involved in the project should be very proud of what they’ve achieved.
“Our relationship with Vine Trust is further strengthened through our homebuilding partnership, which offers our employees a volunteering opportunity to contribute to the charity’s work of providing homebuilding support to communities in severe poverty.”
