The luxury cruise ship MV Hondius, at the centre of a hantavirus outbreak, departed the Spanish island of Tenerife on Monday after the final group of passengers and crew members were evacuated as part of a World Health Organisation (WHO)-led operation.
The vessel briefly docked at the port of Granadilla de Abona, where six passengers — including four Australians, a British national residing in Australia and a New Zealander — disembarked along with 19 crew members and two doctors. The ship then continued its journey to the Netherlands carrying a reduced onboard team of 25 crew members, one doctor and a nurse.
According to the Dutch Foreign Ministry, the evacuated passengers and crew were transported by bus to Tenerife airport before boarding two flights bound for the Netherlands. Authorities said crew members would complete quarantine procedures there, while passengers travelling onward to Australia would be subject to quarantine decisions by Australian health officials.
Spanish health minister Monica Garcia confirmed the completion of the evacuation effort, saying, “Mission accomplished; we’ve just wrapped up the operation and the ship has just set sail,” Reuters reported.
The repatriation operation resulted in 94 people being returned to their countries of residence, 41 days after the ship departed southern Argentina and nine days after the first positive hantavirus case was confirmed onboard.
So far, three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — have died during the outbreak. Health authorities identified seven confirmed cases of the Andes strain of hantavirus and two suspected cases. One suspected patient died before testing could be completed, while another suspected case was reported on Tristan da Cunha, where diagnostic facilities were unavailable.
Among the confirmed cases was a French passenger whose condition reportedly worsened after testing positive when the ship arrived in the Canary Islands on Sunday, according to French health minister Stephanie Rist.
Spanish authorities also said that one of 14 Spaniards quarantining at a military hospital in Madrid had tested positive, though the individual remained asymptomatic and further testing was underway.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Health and Human Services said one of the 17 Americans being repatriated showed a mild positive result for the Andes strain, while another American passenger displayed mild symptoms. Spanish authorities later said a second test on the first American produced inconclusive results.
Health officials have stressed that hantavirus does not spread easily between humans and that the risk to the general public remains low. The virus is typically transmitted through contact with infected rodents, although limited person-to-person transmission has been observed with the Andes strain.
The MV Hondius had been carrying 147 passengers and crew members from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses was first reported to the WHO on May 2. By that time, 34 passengers had already disembarked at Atlantic islands before the vessel headed toward Cape Verde.
The outbreak first came to international attention when health officials in Johannesburg treated a British passenger who had earlier left the ship, roughly three weeks after the first death onboard was recorded.
Spain agreed to host the WHO-supervised evacuation operation after the ship sailed to the Canary Islands on May 6.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said authorities ultimately decided against prolonged onboard quarantine due to worsening mental health conditions among passengers.
“There was even mental breakdown for some of the passengers. It’s very difficult to stay for weeks in a small container. This was the best and the only option we had,” Tedros said, according to Reuters.
Earlier, ship captain Jan Dobrogowski praised the discipline and cooperation shown by passengers and crew throughout the crisis.
The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine period for all passengers exposed during the voyage.
