American cruise passengers, gripped with fear, found themselves stranded on a vessel affected by a deadly Hantavirus outbreak, anxiously waiting as Spanish authorities prioritized the evacuation of their own citizens first.
After enduring a tense period on board, passengers and crew from the luxury cruise ship have finally begun the process of returning home, despite objections from local residents. The evacuation was a complex operation, reflecting the challenging circumstances faced by those involved.
According to Spain’s Health Minister Mónica García, a group consisting of 13 Spanish tourists and one crew member were the first to disembark from the MV Hondius. They made their way to Tenerife via a small boat at around 9:30 AM, setting the stage for the subsequent evacuation of other nationalities.
Following the departure of the Spanish nationals, the 17 American passengers on board are next in line to leave. They will be flown back to the United States on a repatriation flight, destined for the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska, where they will undergo assessment and quarantine procedures.
The ship carried a total of 147 passengers, and the logistical effort required to ensure everyone’s safe return is anticipated to unfold over approximately a week. The intricate operation involved ferries transporting groups from the affected cruise at the Port of Granadilla to the island, where they were then taken by bus to the airport, illustrating the scale and complexity of the evacuation.
Ferries were seen carrying groups from the infected cruise ship at the Port of Granadilla to the island, where they were filed onto buses and transported to the airport.
Government officials emphasized that the evacuated groups would have no contact with the public, despite reports that the passengers were not showing symptoms of the virus.
The World Health Organization recommended a 42-day quarantine for those onboard the boat, which saw its first confirmed case of the outbreak on May 2.
In an update on Friday, WHO confirmed that eight passengers no longer on the ship had fallen ill, with six of them confirmed to have contracted the hantavirus. Four remain hospitalized in South Africa, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Groups onboard the MV Hondius luxury cruise ship disembarked on Sunday after the vessel docked in Tenerife, and the week-long process to send the 147 passengers home has begun
In an update on Friday, WHO confirmed that eight passengers no longer on the ship had fallen ill, with six of them confirmed to have contracted the hantavirus. Four remain hospitalized in South Africa, the Netherlands and Switzerland
Ferries were seen carrying groups from the infected cruise ship at the Port of Granadilla to the island, where they were filed onto buses and transported to the airport
The US, Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands are some of the nations which will send aircrafts to return the passengers and crew members home
A suspected case in Germany tested negative, while a Spanish woman, who had flown on the same flight as a patient who later died from the virus, tested negative on Saturday.
Before the boat evacuated, medical officials ran tests on those onboard the ship, García said, CNN reported.
Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national- were reported to have died from the virus, a rare disease typically caused by exposure to infected rat waste, after the cruise ship left Argentina last month.
The UK Health Security Agency confirmed on Friday that a British national disembarked from the cruise ship MV Hondius on to the island, where they live, with a suspected case of hantavirus.
A specialist team from the British Army have been parachuted on to the British overseas territory Tristan da Cunha – the world’s most remote inhabited island – with medical personnel, aid and equipment to treat the Briton suspected to have hantavirus who disembarked there.
Six paratroopers, an RAF consultant and Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade parachuted, while oxygen supplies and medical aid was dropped on to the remote island, which is normally only accessible by boat.
The RAF A400M transport aircraft flew from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension Island, supported by an RAF Voyager, before heading to Tristan da Cunha.
The British Ministry of Defence said it was the first time medical personnel had been parachuted in to provide humanitarian support.
A specialist team from the British Army have been parachuted on to the British overseas territory Tristan da Cunha with medical personnel, aid and equipment to treat the Briton suspected to have hantavirus who disembarked there
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘We will continue to work closely with international authorities and the Tristan da Cunha administration, keeping those affected informed and ensuring the right support is in place in the UK and across the Overseas Territories.’
The US, Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands are nations included in the operation and will send aircrafts to return the passengers and crew members home.
‘The sequence of disembarkation will be coordinated with arriving repatriation flights,’ Oceanwide said.
According to CNN, the Centers for Disease Control in the United States announced 17 passengers onboard the infected ship will be taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
They will then be allowed to return home and be monitored daily, the outlet reported.
British passengers are set to be repatriated to isolate at the hospital used as the UK’s initial Covid quarantine site, as the UKHSA said the risk to the public ‘remains very low’.
UKHSA said passengers will be flown to the UK on a chartered flight and transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside.
Public health officials, while noting that the risk to the public remains low, said that all passengers on board the cruise are considered high-risk contacts.
Spain’s health ministry also reported that no rats were detected on board the cruise ship.
Spanish officials said all passengers are set to remain onboard the boat until their aircraft home has arrived, meanwhile 30 crew members will remain onboard while the ship will finally sail to the Netherlands be disinfected.
WHO sought to reassure ‘worried’ Tenerife residents that they will not encounter passengers of the hantavirus-hit cruise ship set to dock on their island.
In a letter addressed to the people of Tenerife, WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he knew residents were ‘worried’.
He said the virus was ‘serious’ but the outbreak was ‘not another Covid’ and the ‘current public health risk from hantavirus remains low’.
He added: ‘Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries.’
The outbreak has been connected to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina that two of the passengers went on before boarding the ship.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who arrived in Spain on Saturday and is expected to oversee the ship evacuation, gave the same assurance and thanked the people of Tenerife for their solidarity.
‘I need you to hear me clearly,’ Tedros wrote in an open letter to the people of Tenerife on Saturday: ‘This is not another Covid.’
After arriving in Tenerife, he said he was confident the operation would be a success. ‘Spain is ready and prepared,’ he told reporters.
At the port of Granadilla de Abona early Sunday morning, white tents had been sent up along the quay and the police had secured part of the port.
Despite the situation, daily life appeared largely normal, with some people swimming and others shopping at the market or sitting at cafe terraces.
‘There are worries there could be a danger, but honestly I don’t see people being very concerned,’ said David Parada, a lottery vendor.
Regional authorities have refused to allow the vessel to dock. Instead, it will remain offshore while passengers are screened and evacuated between Sunday and Monday – the only window health officials say the weather will allow.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said earlier that ‘all guests and a limited number of crew members’ were expected to begin to leave the ship from around 7am.
‘Once disembarked, they will be transferred immediately to their allocated aircraft,’ the Dutch firm said.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived on the island on Saturday and sought to reassure ‘worried’ locals that the outbreak is ‘not another COVID’
After arriving in Tenerife, Tedros said he was confident the operation would be a success; ‘Spain is ready and prepared’
The MV Hondius sailed from Cape Verde, where three infected people had already been evacuated earlier in the week.
In Madrid, Spain’s health and interior ministers insisted there would be ‘no contact’ with the local population, and that passengers would leave ‘by nationality groups’.
‘All areas [the passengers] pass through will be sealed off,’ the interior minister said, adding a maritime exclusion zone would be in force around the vessel.
The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde.
Provincial health official Juan Petrina said there was an ‘almost zero chance’ the Dutch man linked to the outbreak contracted the disease in Ushuaia based on the virus’s incubation period, among other factors.
In a statement on Sunday, Oceanwide Expeditions, the operator of the MV Hondius ship, said: ‘Oceanwide Expeditions continues to work with relevant authorities to bring the medical situation on board m/v Hondius to a conclusion.
‘The vessel arrived at the port of Granadilla, Tenerife, on Sunday, 10 May, at 6.24am local time.
‘Led by local authorities, the WHO, and select international governments, the disembarkation of all guests and a limited number of crew members is now underway. This is being performed by launch boats and, if necessary, the Zodiac craft of m/v Hondius.
The MV Hondius sailed from Cape Verde, where three infected people had already been evacuated earlier in the week
Regional authorities have refused to allow the vessel to dock. Instead, it will remain offshore while passengers are screened and evacuated between Sunday and Monday – the only window health officials say the weather will allow
The US, Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands are some of the nations which will send aircrafts to return the passengers and crew members home
‘Upon disembarkation, all individuals will be transferred immediately to waiting aircraft.
‘The sequence of disembarkation is being coordinated with the arrival of repatriation flights.
‘Oceanwide Expeditions is not involved in the planning and facilitation of guest screening and repatriation.
‘As outlined by the WHO, in partnership with several international organizations and governments, guests will be transported by air to their respective countries, where they will enter quarantine procedures.
‘Respective national authorities determine these procedures. No quarantine of non-Spanish nationals will take place in Spain.
‘After all guests and limited crew have disembarked, m/v Hondius will bunker and take on necessary supplies at Santa Cruz, Tenerife.
‘Following this, the vessel will transit to the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands with the remaining crew members aboard.
‘Further details regarding the vessel’s arrival in Rotterdam will be provided when available. The expected sailing time to Rotterdam is around 5 days.’
The Daily Mail reached out to WHO, the CDC, Spain’s Ministry of Health and Ports of Tenerife for comment.
