A $45,000 fundraising effort by Tauranga Rotary is helping refurbish and roll out the latest dental equipment onboard the Pacific Hope – Marine Reach's latest medical care ship.

In an official ceremony yesterday, Tauranga Rotary Club alongside its sister clubs in Kasaoka, and Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia donated three sets of dental equipment to Marine Reach to help refit the 47metre-long ship.

Pacific Hope is currently docked in Tauranga Harbour.

Tauranga Rotary Club member David Garland says the ceremony was a culmination of a four year project and the beginning of a new $60,000 initiative.

'While we thank everyone for their on-going support in ensuring the establishment of the dental clinic, we hope this is only the beginning of a long term relationship.

'On that note we are announcing the next fundraising project calling for approximately $60,000 to provide the resources to furnish the ophthalmology clinic aboard the Pacific Hope.”

Pacific Hope is the latest of four ships previously owned by Marine Reach, an organisation founded in Tauranga in the 1980s, and will be tasked with being deployed to serve Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

Rotary's continued fundraising efforts will help complete the furnishing of the dental and ophthalmology clinic aboard the Pacific Hope, which is currently undergoing refitting while docked in Tauranga Harbour.

The ophthalmology clinic will be dedicated to the memory of the late Tauranga Rotarian and obstetrician, Doctor Jim Thomson.

Refitting for the Pacific Hope began in July with renovations to the dining room and once complete the ship is expected to sail from New Zealand for Vanuatu in June or July 2014.

She will be engaged in serving the islands of Vanuatu with medical teams for five months.

Since the 1980s, the ships have provided a base for volunteer dental, ophthalmology, and general medical personnel to offer greatly needed services to the populations smaller neighbouring pacific islands.