Trump’s Greenland Hospital Ship Now Sailing up West Coast after Panama Canal Transit

Recent AIS signals show the 1,000-bed hospital ship underway in the eastern Pacific and making steady progress northbound after its canal passage, confirming the southbound track observed in late February was consistent with a Pacific repositioning rather than a direct route toward the North Atlantic.

The latest AIS data offers the clearest indication yet of where the vessel may ultimately be headed following President Donald Trump’s controversial remarks about sending a hospital ship to Greenland.

Mercy departed Alabama Shipyard in Mobile in late February following a short drydock period tied to ballast tank repairs. AIS data at the time showed the vessel making about 10.8 knots on a south-southeast course through the central Gulf of Mexico toward the Yucatán Channel—movement widely interpreted as a likely transit toward the Panama Canal rather than a diversion toward the U.S. East Coast or the Arctic. 

A few days later, the vessel was captured on webcam in the Panama Canal’s Gatun Locks, heading southbound towards the Pacific, on March 2.

The ship’s movements drew intense attention after President Trump posted on social media late last month that the United States would send a hospital ship to Greenland, declaring the vessel was “on the way.” The proposal sparked confusion among officials and a sharp response from Greenland’s leadership, who emphasized the territory’s universal healthcare system and said no such deployment had been requested. 

Operational realities also cast doubt on the feasibility of a Greenland mission. Mercy is a converted oil tanker without an ice-strengthened hull and has never operated in Arctic waters, where late-winter sea ice and drifting icebergs present significant hazards for non-ice-rated ships. Ports such as Nuuk also offer limited under-keel clearance for a vessel of Mercy’s size and draft. 

Instead, the hospital ship’s current northbound track aligns with its previously scheduled maintenance availability at Vigor Industrial in Portland, Oregon. The ship is expected to undergo a major shipyard period lasting several months as part of a roughly $90 million overhaul program.

While Mercy’s AIS voyage fields still do not publicly list a destination, the vessel’s track along the U.S. West Coast is consistent with a repositioning toward the Pacific Northwest ahead of the planned yard work.

Mercy is one of two hospital ships operated by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command and can accommodate up to 1,000 patients with 12 operating rooms when fully activated. 

Meanwhile, the ship’s sister vessel, USNS Comfort, remains at Alabama Shipyard undergoing its own maintenance period.