The hospital ship "Peace Ark" sets sail on September 16, 2011 on a 100-day voyage for the Caribbean countries of Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Costa Rica. [Photo: CRIonline/Liu Yiyao]

China's first self-designed 10,000-ton-class hospital ship "The Peace Ark" has left China on a 100-day voyage to the Caribbean, where it will visit Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica as part of a mission dubbed "Harmonious Mission 2011" to provide medical services to local residents.

With a crew complement of 416, and 107 of them being medical staff such as doctors and nurses; the "Peace Ark" is also the very first 10,000-ton-class hospital ship in the world. It carries the latest medical equipment and hardware systems, advanced navigational and operational systems, 1,512 types of medicines, accommodation for 300 beds, and a rescue helicopter.

CRI reporters interviewed some of the crew members to get an overall understanding of the mission as well as hear some moving stories.

As the sun rose over the horizon, the "Peace Ark" embarked upon her long journey and the crew waved their hands towards their motherland. However, some of the crew members had to stay below decks and bid farewell to their home from the bottom of their hearts.

Colonel Cheng Jianrong, the chief electrician of the hospital ship, can only see the outside world when the ship comes in to shore. As a veteran crew member, Cheng has spent 28 years on board and views the facilities in the hull as his family members.

"When my fellow colleagues are waving to our homeland and we are being seen off, I must prepare to set sail below the decks and ensure all the equipment is working well," Cheng said to CRI reporters.

"Here it is noisy and damp and it is really hard work�� But that is my duty�� I feel responsible and honored for my work," he added.

Speaking of the new challenges facing the mission, Rear Admiral Qiu Yanpeng, the mission commander, explained that crew members are not familiar with the Caribbean Sea as this is the first time a Chinese naval vessel will visit the area. "Besides, the relatively advanced medical services of the four countries we are going to visit also place higher demands on the content and quality of our services," Qiu added."

In order to better understand their patients, the doctors on the "Peace Ark" have spent a lot of time improving their English and studying Spanish, said Jiang Futing, the director of the ship hospital's outpatient department.

"Though the doctors and nurses can speak good English, we have still prepared some audio and video materials on how to communicate with patients when asking them questions, diagnosing them and preparing them for operation," Jiang stated, "an interpreter from the CRI Spanish Service will also accompany us during the whole journey to help us communicate."

Academic exchanges are another task of the mission. Jiang said that he will introduce traditional Chinese treatments which are mysterious to many foreigners.

"Acupuncture, physiotherapy and acupotomy which integrates both traditional Chinese and western treatment are included in the academic exchanges. I myself have collected pictures and video clips of Tai Chi Shadow Boxing and Tai Chi culture for our Latin counterparts."

The "Peace Ark" launched her first medical service voyage last year to provide services to the Chinese crew of a convoy fleet in the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast, and residents in Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles and Djibouti.