According to President Donald Trump, the USA wants to send a hospital ship to Greenland and thereby risk new tensions in relations with its NATO partner Denmark. It should help care for the sick who cannot get help on the Arctic island, Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “It’s on the way!!!” He spoke of a “great” ship, but otherwise gave no details.
Trump’s repeated threats to annex the strategically important island, which belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, even by force if necessary, have led to tensions between Europe and the USA in recent weeks.
According to the minister, Denmark was not informed
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told TV channel DR that Denmark had not been informed about Trump’s plans for the hospital ship. He also assured that Greenland would receive the necessary medical care from Denmark.
The US Navy has two large hospital ships. In the past, the floating hospitals were relocated to affected areas for relief operations after natural disasters such as massive earthquakes or devastating hurricanes. During the peak phase of the corona pandemic, they were also used at times in US ports. According to the Navy, the hospital ships each have a capacity of around 1,000 hospital beds, including 80 beds in the intensive care unit. Trump illustrated his post with a picture of a ship emblazoned with the name of one of the two naval hospital ships: USNS Mercy.
Naval hospital ships last both in the shipyard
However, it is unclear to what extent and how quickly the two ships will actually be operational. At the end of January, a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, announced on Facebook that the USNS Comfort had also arrived there and that both hospital ships were there. According to previous information from the Pentagon, work on the Comfort was planned until the end of April.
The shipping traffic portal “Vesselfinder” recently located both ships in Mobile – although current data was only available for the USNS Mercy on Sunday morning German time; the last information for the USNS Comfort came from the beginning of the month.
In addition, Trump wrote that the ship was already on its way – but it normally takes some time to equip a hospital ship with full personnel. During regular operations, when the ships are at anchor, there is only a minimal crew on board.
Only just under 57,000 people live in the vast area of Greenland. Recently there have been no reports of a major medical need there that would make sending a hospital ship necessary.
In Greenland, in addition to public health facilities in the area, the Queen Ingrid Hospital in the capital Nuuk is responsible for more complicated cases. In individual cases, patients are flown from Greenland to Denmark for more complex procedures.
US submarine incident
On Saturday afternoon, a crew member of a US submarine had to be evacuated due to a medical emergency in Greenland’s territorial waters, the Danish Arctic Command announced on Facebook. A Danish military helicopter took the person off board and he was taken to a hospital in Nuuk. It was initially unclear whether there was a connection between Trump’s announcement and the incident.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reacted to the US President’s latest statement with a swipe at the USA without directly mentioning Trump or his country. She is happy to “live in a country where everyone has free and equal access to health care” and where “insurance and wealth do not decide whether you get appropriate treatment,” wrote Frederiksen on Instagram. The same approach is followed in Greenland.
European countries such as Germany, Great Britain and France had supported Denmark and Greenland in the conflict with the USA. The governments in Copenhagen and Nuuk strongly oppose annexation by the United States. They have now started talks with Trump’s government – with the aim of finding a compromise.
