Unprecedented Evacuation Underway for Hantavirus Cruise Ship in Tenerife
A high-stakes bio-security operation is currently unfolding off the coast of Tenerife as Spanish authorities begin the evacuation of the MV Hondius. The luxury cruise vessel, which has been shadowed by a deadly hantavirus outbreak for weeks, anchored near the Port of Granadilla before dawn on Sunday.
While Health Minister Monica Garcia has sought to reassure the public by stating the operation is «proceeding normally» and that all passengers remain asymptomatic, the visual reality on the ground is one of extreme caution.
Hazmat suits and decontamination
The evacuation process involves a series of rigorous safety protocols designed to contain the rare Andes strain of the virus. Passengers, seen wearing white medical masks as they peered from the ship’s decks, were ferried to the mainland in small, socially distanced groups.
Upon reaching the airport tarmac, the scene turned even more clinical. Ground staff were filmed pulling white hazmat suits over the clothing of arriving passengers before hosing them down next to the steps of their chartered aircraft. This meticulous decontamination process preceded a series of repatriation flights destined for the UK, the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands.
A group of 14 Spanish nationals led the disembarkation and are being flown to Madrid. They face an uncertain period of mandatory isolation at the Gomez Ulla military hospital, a daunting prospect given the virus can have an incubation period of up to nine weeks.
Political tension and local anxiety
The arrival of the MV Hondius has not been without controversy. On Friday, disgruntled port workers held a noisy protest outside the local parliament to voice their fears over potential contagion.
Tensions reached a boiling point late on Saturday when Fernando Clavijo, the President of the Canary Islands, attempted to block the ship from docking. In a televised statement that was later dismissed by health officials as «not a risk», Clavijo suggested that a virus-carrying rat might escape the vessel under the cover of darkness and endanger the local population. The central government in Madrid eventually intervened to override the regional block and allow the humanitarian mission to proceed.
A «solid and effective» response
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is currently in Tenerife to supervise the logistics. He acknowledged the public’s «legitimate concern» following the collective trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic but praised the Spanish authorities for their «solid and effective» handling of the crisis.
The outbreak, which has been linked to a landfill site in southern Argentina frequented by birdwatchers, has already claimed the lives of a German national and a Dutch couple. Although hantavirus typically spreads via rodents and human-to-human transmission is exceptionally rare, the severity of this specific strain led the Spanish government to describe the current containment effort as «unprecedented».
While most passengers are now beginning their long journey home, approximately 30 crew members will remain on board to sail the MV Hondius back to the Netherlands for a total deep-clean and disinfection.
