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Hospital ship arrived in Portland
The USNS 'Mercy' has arrived at Vigor’s shipyard in Portland, Oregon, on March 19,effectively confirming the vessel’s long-anticipated destination following weeks of speculation tied to a proposed Greenland deployment, completing its northbound transit along the U.S. West Coast and entering the Columbia River, in line with its previously scheduled shipyard availability at Vigor’s Swan Island shipyard. The arrival provides the clearest confirmation yet that the voyage from the Gulf Coast through the Panama Canal was part of a planned repositioning to the Pacific Northwest, rather than an Arctic deployment. The 'Mercy' had departed Alabama Shipyard in Mobile in late February following repairs and initially drew global attention after Donald Trump stated on social media that the vessel was “on its way” to Greenland. The announcement triggered confusion among officials and pushback from Greenland’s leadership, who said no such mission had been requested. In fact, affter transiting the Panama Canal in early March, the vessel was observed sailing steadily north along the Pacific coast, aligning with long-standing plans for a major maintenance period in Portland.
Hospital ship in Pacific waters
The USNS 'Mercy', contrary to Donald Trump's statement, that the hospital ship was on its way to Greenland, has just passed the Panama Canal and was now in the Pacific Ocean. From here, the hospital ship would have to go around Alaska and north of Canada if it is to go to Greenland, and that is not possible at this time of year. And certainly not for a ship that is not ice-strengthened. The US envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, also acknowledged that the hospital ship was not on its way to Greenland. On March 9 the hospital shikp was sailing north along the West Coast off Mexico after transiting the Panama Cana, confirming the southbound track observed in late February and consistent with a Pacific repositioning rather than a direct route toward the North Atlantic.
Both hospital ships in yard - Trump’s announcement provokes pefense of Greenland Health Care System
While U.S. President Donald Trump said he would deploy a hospital ship to Greenland and showed an AI picture of the 'Mercy', alleging that many people there were sick and not receiving care, in fact both of the U.S. Navy’s hospital ships are currently docked at a shipyard in Alabama. The USNS 'Comfort' wass undergoing repairs that were expected to be completed in April, while the USNS 'Mercy' was in the middle of a one-year maintenance period that began in July 2025. Trump’s announcement prompted a defense on Feb 22 of Denmark and Greenland’s health care system from their leaders, and it was the latest point of friction with Trump. Trump's "social" media post about a hospital ship came after Denmark's military said its arctic command forces on Feb 21 had evacuated a crew member of a U.S. submarine off the coast of Greenland for urgent medical treatment. The Danish Joint Arctic Command said the crew member was evacuated seven nautical miles off Nuuk and transferred to a hospital in the city. The crew member was retrieved by a Danish Seahawk helicopter. Trump referred to his special envoy for Greenland and said, “Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way!!!” “We have a public health care system where treatment is free for citizens. That is a deliberate choice — and a fundamental part of our society. That is not how it works in the USA, where it costs money to see a doctor,” Nielsen said, adding in a note of exasperation, that Greenland is always open to dialogue and cooperation. “But please talk to us instead of just making more or less random statements on social media." The Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Danish authorities had not been informed that the U.S. ship was on its way, which was in fact impossible with the ships being in a yard. The Pentagon referred questions about the status of the U.S. Navy’s two hospital ships, the USNS 'Mercy' and USNS 'Comfort', to the U.S. Northern Command, which in turn referred to the Navy, which in turn referred to the White House, which didn’t want to talk about it. So when Trump publicly declared that a U.S. hospital ship was “on the way” to Greenland, that apparently wasn’t true. The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen meanwhile defended Denmark’s health care system, writing that she was “happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all. Where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment. You have the same approach in Greenland.” Aaja Chemnitz, one of the two Greenlandic politicians in the Danish parliament, wrote that "Donald Trump wants to send a poorly maintained hospital ship to Greenland. It seems rather desperate and does not contribute to the permanent and sustainable strengthening of the health care system that we need. “Another day. Another crazy news story."
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