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 further details.

Both ships in the shipyard for scheduled maintenance

The problem: According to consistent reports, the US Navy’s only two hospital ships – the USNS “Mercy” and the USNS “Comfort” – have been in the shipyard in the port of Mobile in the state of Alabama for months for scheduled maintenance. According to official information from the Military Sealift Command, the “Mercy” left its home port of San Diego last year for a year-long repair period in Alabama. The “Comfort” is also there. There was initially no indication that one of the ships had already set sail.

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.

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.

Were Denmark and Greenland asked in advance?

It initially remained unclear whether the planned deployment of the hospital ship, according to Trump, had been coordinated with Denmark’s government or in largely autonomous Greenland.

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.

European countries such as Germany, Great Britain and France have backed 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.