Brett Curtis (left) and Kathlene Soo with the medical aid ship known as the 'Claymore II'. Photo / Caroline Fleming
Brett Curtis (left) and Kathlene Soo with the medical aid ship known as the 'Claymore II'. Photo / Caroline Fleming
An ex-cargo vessel that has called Tauranga home for nearly a decade has been gifted to become a medical aid ship for some of the remotest islands in the Pacific.
The 48m-long ship used to carry supplies to Pitcairn Island four times a year. However, after the contract with the British Government ran out, Tāupo couple Nigel and Brenda Jolly decided to donate it to a good cause.
Nigel Jolly said he bought the boat specifically to do that job as there were none like it in New Zealand or the Pacific.
The couple chose to donate the boat to humanitarian organisation Youth With a Mission Ships Aotearoa - an organisation that had operated ships for Christian humanitarian missions for more than 40 years.
He said the decision to donate the boat was "out of a desire to see the boat looked after and to do something that I can be proud of".
He said he would rather see the ship put to good use than rusting away in its retirement.
The ship had been handed over to Youth With A Mission Ships Aotearoa and would soon go into dry dock for maintenance before being relaunched as a medical aid ship.
Brett Curtis said the ship could be converted into medical or dental clinics, operating theatres and X-ray units, among other things. Photo / Caroline Fleming
Youth With A Mission Ships Aotearoa chairman Brett and his wife Karen Curtis from Te Puke had travelled to 72 countries on the missions since they first became involved in 1983.
Brett Curtis said the exact Pacific Islands the ship would serve were yet to be determined, but the most isolated and difficult to reach islands were being considered.
He said the ship had the capacity to carry containers, supplies, crew and volunteers to assist with everything from education to medical and developmental projects.
The Pacific Islands were so scattered that they were the most geographically challenging islands on Earth and a lot of the time the only way to reach them was via ship, he said.
The shipping containers could be converted into medical or dental clinics, operating theatres and X-ray units, among other things, he said.
Auckland doctor and volunteer for Youth With A Mission Ships, Kathlene Soo, said she had spent the last two years in Hawaii working at another one of the organisation's bases.
She said she loved being able to "reach the isolated" and that she was so proud something like this could come out of her country.
Donations were being sought from the New Zealand business, church and medical communities to help fit out the ship and a nationwide port tour is being planned.
Youth With A Mission was seeking suggestions from the public to rename the ship and was looking for marine, general and medical volunteers to join them.
Anyone who is interested in donating or volunteering can get in touch via the Youth With A Mission Ships Aotearoa website.
