Baltimore-Based Navy Hospital Ship Comfort Deploying From Va.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) --The Navy hospital ship Comfort is gearing up for a five-month humanitarian mission to Central and South America and the Caribbean.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that the ship is scheduled to deploy from Norfolk on Friday as part of Continuing Promise 2011.
Crewmembers will provide medical and dental care and engineering support in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Peru.
The Navy says the Baltimore-based ship has provided help to nearly 200,000 people in more than 14 countries during similar missions in 2009 and 2007.
Late last month, the Comfort stopped at Norfolk Naval Station to take on personnel from Portsmouth Naval Medical Center.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
