Welcome to Chickasaw, Alabama.....the Caribbean Mercy's new home for the next 6-12+ months!

Chickasaw
Originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

Most of the crew will be relocating to various Mercy Ships locations in the next month. Some of the crew will be leaving Mercy Ships and a few (about 8) crew members will be caretaking the ship as it is docked here in Chickasaw.

The ship was escorted and powered by two tugs up the Mobile river to this dock. The ship requires extensive repairs and is being laid aside here in Chickasaw until the repairs are assessed, funding is raised and the future ministry plan for the ship is developed.

Caribbean Mercy

Caribbean Mercy Ship
Originally uploaded by Gbird9.

The Caribbean Mercy docked in the morning fog in Chickasaw, Alabama.

Newsletter - A New Challenge Awaits Us

Many of you must think we have totally forgotten how to write...not so.
In the past several months there has been much change and busyness in our lives. Sometimes the change occurred daily and even hour by hour! In the midst of all of this change our communication to you has suffered. Please accept our apology; it was not our intention to exclude you from the process.

Please allow me to recap a little. Since arriving in Mobile, Alabama in January of this year, we initially believed we would be in Mobile for about eight weeks to allow for scheduled survey and any associated work that may be created as a result of these surveys. In the beginning this endeavor seemed realistic and obtainable.

When we first arrived in Mobile, we had to deal with several unexpected mechanical failures of our onboard systems such as the steering gear and the main engine. These failures would be corrected but caused us to be under a Coast Guard restriction which would eventually prevent us from sailing to our new berth under our own power.

When we arrived in Mobile we first docked in the Alabama State Dock and shortly had to move across the river to Harrison Brothers Shipyard, at Harrison's we were unable to discharge cargo which delayed our efforts to correct the cargo hold tween deck which was one area of concern to our surveyor from our previous dry-dock phase last year.

Official Announcement regarding the Caribbean Mercy

We have been extremely busy...mostly due to the news about the ship.... The official memo is attached below.... Please drop us a note, when you can. We'll be glad to answer any questions that we can! We will respond as soon as we can and let you know about our plans as the Lord reveals them!

Mobile, Alabama - May 3, 2005

Crew and staff of Mercy Ships were informed today that the service of the Mercy Ship Caribbean Mercy will be put on hold for an estimated 6-12 months. This decision was made in response to extensive unexpected repairs required to keep the ship in service. Crew will transfer to other Mercy Ships offices and locations for the duration.

Since the Caribbean Mercy joined the Mercy Ships fleet:

-- 7,000 dental patients have been treated
-- 4,000 eye surgeries have been performed
-- 850 orthopedic surgeries have been performed
-- 160,000 presentations of the love of God have been made

Please join us in prayer for the Caribbean Mercy to return to active service as soon as possible. For information and additional updates, go to the Caribbean Mercy itinerary page at www.mercyships.org which will be updated as information becomes available.

Steve Koinis
CEO
Mercy Ships International

Paul and the phone lines!

Paul and the phone lines!
Originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

You may have tried to call us......our extensions are not working, but the ship's number is and you can leave a message or have us paged!