The phonographs below  show the ground being prepared for the final 100 yards to refloatJubilee Hope.. This will require some precise engineering and maths. The ship will be required to enter the water at the right speed and also at the right angle,  if not the danger is that the huge hull could capsize. Once in the water the  huge job   begins to reassemble the ship. We’re grateful for the support of the Wood Group who have committed themselves to delivering the ship to Mwansa.

We  hope that the launch will take place on Friday 29th August.  It will then once reassembled be repainted.  The ship has come a long way since it left the Clyde in late january of this year. After travelling over 8,500 miles surviving  the battering of many a waves and trees it will soon be ready to  head down the Lake to Mwansa.   We recognise that it will take about two weeks for the ship to be re-assembled before  facing up to one and half days of basin trials.  It will then  sail 236 miles  to Mwanza. 

I’m looking forward toeing at the official launch of the ship in early October. I;m reminded of david Livingstone who had a ship sismantled and reassembled to help him on his adventures in Africa. So I guess we are in goos company. Livimngstone also had to build roads  and prepare the ground for his long treks across aftrica.

Over the past few months we've been  road building, fence removing, slipway dismantling and rebuilding. All this  is a bit more extensive than we had hoped. However it will all be worth the hard work when we see it in operation  taking health care to over 1 million people in the next 20 years. I'm  totally amazed that the same month  as this is all happening our sister ships in the Amazon have reached the amazing target of  having treated just over 1 million patients in the past ten years. We are indebted to the many doctors, nurses and dentists and other medical support staff who have ventured into the jungle in South America to make a difference.