MV Hondius Hantavirus Cruise Ship Arrives in Tenerife for Evacuation
The luxury cruise ship struck by a fatal hantavirus outbreak dropped anchor near the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife early on Sunday morning. Footage from Reuters confirms the vessel is now in position to begin the delicate process of evacuating its passengers and a portion of its crew.
Coordinated disembarkation protocol
According to Spanish authorities, the evacuation is scheduled to commence between 7:30 am and 8:30 am local time. Although none of the passengers currently display any symptoms of the infection, all individuals on board are being treated as high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure guided by Europe’s public health agency.
Spanish health officials will conduct rigorous tests to verify that passengers remain asymptomatic. Following this medical clearance, individuals will be transported to the shore using small boats. From the harbour, a fleet of specially sealed buses will ferry the passengers on a 10-minute journey to the island’s primary airport so they can board repatriation flights back to their respective home nations.
Government officials confirmed on Saturday that Spanish citizens will be the first to disembark, followed by groups of other nationalities. A skeleton crew of 30 staff members will remain on the MV Hondius to navigate the vessel to the Netherlands for a comprehensive disinfection process.
International response and virus details
The ship originally departed for Spain from the coast of Cape Verde on Wednesday after the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) requested Spanish assistance in managing the crisis. To oversee the complex logistical operation, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in the Canary Islands on Saturday evening alongside Spain’s ministers for health, interior and territorial policy.
The WHO confirmed on Friday that the outbreak has resulted in eight severe illnesses. Six of these are confirmed hantavirus cases while two remain suspected. The virus has already claimed the lives of a German national and a Dutch couple.
While hantavirus is typically transmitted by rodents, rare instances of human-to-human transmission can occur. The WHO has stated that the risk to the general global population remains low but it considers the current threat level for the ship’s passengers and crew to be moderate.
