US Military to Deploy Navy Hospital Ship to PH for Typhoon Victims

Officials on Wednesday said that as the United States (US) mounted its relief mission in response to Super Typhoon Yolanda’s wreckage Friday last week, a Navy hospital ship has been ordered activated by the US military for a possible deployment to the Philippines in December, Solar news reported.

A US military spokesman said the USNS Mercy is a slow-moving vessel that it could take about three weeks for the ship to reach the Philippines from San Diego if it first stops in Hawaii to pick up additional personnel and equipment.

Solar news reported the USNS Mercy has the capacity to treat hundreds of patients at any given time and could bring enormous capability for efforts to help treat victims of Typhoon Yolanda.

The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet said in a statement “If ordered to deploy, Mercy would get underway in the next several days and could arrive in the Philippines sometime in December,”

Yolanda (internationally known as ‘Haiyan’), one of the strongest storms ever recorded, tore through the central Philippines on Friday last week knocking down the coastal city of Tacloban and destroyed all but two hospitals there.

The United Nations (UN) said more than 670,000 people have been displaced by the storm and survivors have become increasingly desperate as essential supplies have dwindled, Solar News report said.

On Wednesday, Solar News reported one US official as saying ‘relief operations were picking up pace now that some logistical hurdles had been addressed.’

“It’s been a very difficult first few days wading through some of these logistical obstacles – that’s not unusual in this kind of a crisis,” the official said, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.

He added “We’re getting a better handle on that and feel like we’re starting to turn a corner.”

The Navy said Mercy would join other US ships, including the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, which is expected to arrive off the Philippines on Thursday along with cruisers USS Antietam and USS Cowpens, adding that the destroyers USNS Mustin and USS Lassen have already arrived off the Philippines, Solar News said.

It added other US vessels, including the amphibious ships USS Ashland and USS Germantown, are expected to arrive in the Philippines in about a week.

Solar news reported the number of US military personnel on the ground could also triple to more than a thousand in a week, from just over 300 now, as estimated by one US official who requested anonymity.

Source: Solar News