A life on the ocean wave

The Aurora can best be described as a floating five star hotel with a twist. Equipped with state of the art medical technology, it boasts six wards, a high dependency unit, an intensive care unit, and a fully functional theatre. It also has a laboratory with facilities for performing a wide array of blood tests and scope for simple radiological investigations, such as ultrasound and x ray examinations. Digitally generated images can be transmitted via satellite to a specialist reporting service based at the University of Galveston in Texas. Impressively, the laboratory and radiology facilities are all manned by the ship's medical staff.

Invited aboard the Aurora, I asked senior ship's doctor, Lynn Gordon, what life was really like on the high seas. “It's a really challenging job,” says Gordon, who has worked in maritime medicine for over eight years. “If you need to transfuse a patient then it's up to you to cross match the blood and find a suitable donor on board.” Despite access to so much technology, however, the expectation is that the ship's doctor performs only tasks within his or her ability.

The Aurora typically carries 2000 passengers, and there is a seasonal variation …