There have been at least three Ships bearing the name ; ), operated by the ' (Social Institute of the Navy) on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security serving as hospital ships for Spanish fishermen.
Costing over â¬21 million, with around 20 percent being funded by subsidies from the European Union, the ship was built by Juliana Constructora Gijonesa S.A., in Gijon, Spain. Commissioned in October, it entered regular service in late November 2001. Homeported in Las Palmas, Esperanza del Mar provides medical services for the crews of the Spanish industrial fishing fleet off the coast of Western Africa. It is one of the larger hospital ships currently in service.