Envirotainer and Mercy Ships

Delivering Hope Through Cold Chain Innovation

In sub-Saharan Africa, up to 69% of people live on less than £2 a day. Healthcare in these countries either doesn't exist, or is unaffordable to the vast majority of the population.

For over 40 years, Mercy Ships has brought hope to these communities, performing more than 122,000 life-changing surgeries and training tens of thousands of local healthcare professionals aboard the world's largest non-governmental hospital ships.

Envirotainer has partnered with Mercy Ships to donate temperature-controlled solutions that safeguard the transport of vital medicines.

These solutions help ensure that life-saving treatments reach patients safely, even in the most remote and challenging environments where Mercy Ships operate.

Navigating Complex Logistics

Delivering pharmaceuticals and lab materials to and from Mercy Ships' vessels is a complex challenge. Operating in remote regions with limited infrastructure, the organization must overcome barriers such as:

• Long transport times and unpredictable flight schedules.
• Strict regulatory requirements prohibiting the mixing of pharmaceuticals with other cargo.
• Multiple points in the supply chain where delays can occur.
• Short shelf lives for many products, often just 30 days, while traditional shipping methods can take up to four months.
• Handling errors, such as overcooling or exposure to ambient temperatures, potentially compromising medicines and creating risks for patients.

Supporting Reliable Temperature Control

To manage these challenges, Mercy Ships uses Envirotainer's ProofPak equipment to transport temperature-sensitive medicines and lab materials.

In practice, ProofPak supports their work by:

• Maintaining a stable temperature: Keeps products between 2°C–8°C from departure to arrival, even when flights are delayed or rescheduled.
• Simplifying handling: Pre-cooled and straightforward to pack, reducing the chance of errors during loading and unloading.
• Enabling consistent resupply: Supports regular monthly shipments, ensuring that lab cultures, vaccines, and medicines arrive in time to be used.

By providing a dependable, practical solution for temperature-sensitive shipments, ProofPak allows Mercy Ships to focus on delivering care, rather than managing cold chain risks.

"We believe that access to life-saving medicines should not be limited by geography. Partnering with Mercy Ships allows us to bring our expertise in cold chain logistics to some of the most remote and challenging locations in the world."

Niklas Adamsson
CEO (Interim) and COO, Envirotainer

Restoring Hope to Patients

For many patients, access to proper treatment was once unimaginable. With Envirotainer's support, Mercy Ships can now send medicines and lab cultures for analysis - shipments that are literally lifelines. These deliveries enable accurate diagnoses and timely treatment, often making the difference between life and death.

Beyond direct patient care, Mercy Ships strengthens local healthcare systems through training and sustainable practices. Every shipment supported by Envirotainer is a step toward building lasting medical capacity in underserved regions.

Strategic Impact and Alignment

The partnership reflects a shared commitment to health equity and operational reliability. In environments with numerous logistical hurdles, having a consistent and predictable cold chain solution ensures that Mercy Ships can focus on their core mission: offering direct medical care and surgery to local people, training and mentoring local health professionals, and improving healthcare infrastructure.

By donating equipment and sharing expertise, Envirotainer helps ensure that each shipment arrives as intended, supporting both immediate patient care and long-term healthcare development.

Conclusion

Through this collaboration, Mercy Ships and Envirotainer demonstrate the tangible impact of dependable cold chain logistics. Together, we are not only transporting medicines and lab materials, we are delivering hope, healing, and the promise of stronger healthcare systems to communities across sub Saharan Africa.

"Our partnership with Envirotainer has given us confidence that our critical medical supplies will arrive safely and on time, no matter the obstacles. It's more than logistics - it's about restoring hope and delivering healing to those who need it most."

Ron Smith
Logistics Manager, Mercy Ships

Envirotainer

Mercy Ships