Norden chief officer Milan Falsing is reliving one of his childhood passions as he takes over as captain of the Africa Mercy, the world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship.
For two months starting this month, Falsing will be in command of a vessel he visited as a boy more than 20 years ago.
“When the Great Belt ferries stopped sailing in 1997, I wrote to the then owner, Scandlines, which let me come onboard one last time,” he said in Norden’s latest in-house magazine. “I was at this point 11 years old and, at that moment, I knew I wanted to become a sailor.”
The 16,572-gt Africa Mercy (built 1980) is the former Dronning Ingrid, one of three sisterships built for Danish State Railways (DSB). Great Belt ferries stopped with the opening of the Great Belt Fixed Link bridges and tunnel.The Dronning Ingrid was acquired by Mercy Ships and converted into a hospital vessel with a donation by Scottish tycoon Dame Ann Gloag’s Balcraig Foundation.
Falsing says that without the support of Norden, a company he describes as taking its corporate social responsibility seriously, he would not have been able to volunteer to work on the Africa Mercy.
He says Norden and those who employ its ships were “helping those in Africa who desperately need help”.
The Africa Mercy is providing free medical care from its berth in Conakry, Guinea, where it will remain until June.
Falsing is familiar with the ship, having volunteered on it in 2011 and 2015.
He says, ultimately, he will be responsible for about 450 volunteers from 40 nations working onboard, crew members and scores of patients.
“For me, being named captain of Africa Mercy also means my circle is complete — this is the ship where I first decided I wanted to be a seafarer,” Falsing said.
Norden’s fleet, where the chief officer is normally deployed, comprises 264 dry cargo vessels and 57 tankers.
