U.S. naval hospital ship Mercy visits Fiji

U.S. naval hospital ship Mercy arrived at the Port of Suva on Sunday, beginning its nearly two-week visit to Fiji in a bid to provide medical service and share experience in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Guided and assisted by several local tugboats, USNS Mercy, a 272-meter-long white ship featuring several giant red crosses, steered into the port, welcomed by a crowd of U.S. embassy staff, Fijian civilian and military officials, as well as the locally renowned Fiji Police Band that played cheerful music as the vessel steadily docked in.

The American hospital ship is expected to spend some four days in Suva and over a week in Savusavu, a town on Fiji's second largest island, Vanua Levu.

While in Fiji, the vessel's crew are scheduled to engage in a range of local outreach efforts aimed at building lasting partnerships and sharing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief experience. They are also expected to involve local communities to forge partnerships and share medical practices, provide health education with local partners and strengthen ties through community events such as band concerts and sport games.

The ship is on the Pacific Partnership mission, which began after the December 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Southeast Asia. Since 2006, Pacific Partnership has expanded using a multilateral approach to include partner nation militaries and non- governmental organizations.

After its stay in Fiji, USNS Mercy will sail to Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Vietnam to continue with its mission, Ray Owens, lead planner of Pacific Partnership 2015, told Xinhua in a news briefing prior to the ship's arrival. Endi