"Ship Work..."

While we are here in Tenerife, we are getting a lot done aboard the Africa Mercy.  This is the main purpose for us the be here-to get inspections done and get annual upkeep done on the ship.

Underneath the lowest deck of the Africa Mercy (a double bottom), and in places along the side of the ship, are large tanks which hold fuel oil, ballast (sea water), fresh water, and some which are empty. The tanks have to be cleaned to be surveyed (inspected) by a surveyor from our classification society (Bureau Veritas). You get into the tanks by taking an oval cover off the deck or bulkhead (24 bolts), removing the plate and worming your way into the tank. The tanks always hot and humid (water tanks) or dank and very dirty with sludge in the bottom (fuel tanks). 

Volunteers (from non-technical departments such as Stewards, Reception, Nursing etc.) sign up for this and receive special training. The tank cleaners come out after a few hours filthy, tired but with a great sense of accomplishment.

Another job that is happening is the removal of the old logo and painting of the funnel in preparation to put on the new logo.

A major job is the construction of a pool on deck 8. Mercy Ships was blessed with a single donor who wanted to bless the crew with a built in pool.  This generosity is greatly going to benefit the recreational needs of the crew.

Besides the obvious jobs that are happening, the crew is maintaining their regular work hours.  The nursing staff is rewritting medical manuels, cleaning is still happening, repairs are being made by the technical department, the finance department had a major upgrade to their software...and has to work out the bugs from the upgrade, and machinery that needs to be fixed is getting  repaired.  Many volunteers will fly into Tenerife just for the weeks that we are here to give their techinical expertise in many areas.   We are very greatful for the time we have to prepare us for the outreach in Togo.