MIAMI – One of two U.S. Navy fleet hospital ships arrived at Port of Miami Saturday and was set to depart Monday on a six-month-long mission, the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command reported.
The USNS Comfort is 894 feet long and, fully loaded, displaces 69,360 tons, according to the U.S. Navy. The white USNS Comfort, resembling an American Red Cross ship, has been a part of the U.S. Navy fleet since Dec. 1, 1987.
USNS Comfort's crew of 1,000 includes medical personnel from the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force and U.S. Public Health Service. They will visit 11 countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America in a humanitarian assistance training mission.
"We intend to enhance our collective abilities to respond in support of foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in the region," U.S. Navy Capt. Sam Hancock said in statement Thursday.
The countries in the itinerary include Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Colombia. Personnel are expected to see more than 100,000 patients and perform hundreds of surgeries, according to the U.S. Navy.
Hancock added that the mission provides "an invaluable opportunity" for the team to create a "positive impact," while improving "the unity, security, and stability within the region."
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Sailors man the rails aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) as the ship pulls into Miami, Fla. For Comforts first port visit on the Continuing Promise 2015 (CP-15) mission.