Imagine seeing your children for the first time after being blind for 23 years. It sounds like a miracle, but for the Tauranga-based Marine Reach medical mission it has become almost commonplace while serving the Pacific Islands.

Medical outreach national director Michael Mears, who runs the operation in Tauranga, saw the impact the medical support makes on remote Pacific islands when he worked on-board the M/V Pacific Link with his wife Jeannie for five years.

Marine Reach's MV Pacific Hope on its maiden voyage to Tauranga where it will be formally launched on Saturday.

'You have some pretty dramatic stories about people who have been blind for 25 years and then they get their sight back when we remove their cataracts. It's pretty amazing,” says Michael.

Today, Marine Reach's latest humanitarian aid ship the M/V Pacific Hope, which replaces the M/V Pacific Link, will arrive at Mount Maunganui's Rata St wharf on its maiden voyage.

A formal welcome ceremony by Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby and kaumatua is scheduled for 10am, then the ship will be open for free public tours from 11am-1.30pm, 2-4pm and on Sunday from 1-3pm.

Marine Reach was founded by Tauranga Christian missionaries David and Linda Cowie in 1990, after seeing the need for medical support in the Pacific's remote islands. The mission now runs three ships providing free dental, medical and opthalmology services.

'The benefit to the remote islands is huge. Most of the people wouldn't be able to afford these medical services if they could get to them.”

Medical staff and crew from around the world volunteer their time on short tours of duty to provide the care.

The new 54-metre vessel will carry a crew of 20 and about 35 medical staff when it returns to the South Pacific, where the mission has served more than 300,000 people and provided more than $50 million in medical care in the last 23 years. Details: www.marinereach.com