The cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by a deadly hantavirus outbreak during its voyage, arrived this Sunday at the Port of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife, according to live footage broadcast by Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE).
The vessel has docked at the Tenerife port facilities while authorities monitor the health situation related to the outbreak detected on board.
At this time, no further details have been released regarding the condition of the passengers or the measures to be adopted following the ship’s arrival in the Canary Islands.
The evacuation of those on board the MV Hondius is scheduled to begin this Sunday at 8:00 a.m., starting with the disembarkation of the 14 Spanish citizens who remain on the ship affected by the hantavirus outbreak.
The operation designed by authorities involves the phased transfer of passengers from the vessel to shore in Tenerife—supported by an extensive health and security deployment—prior to the organization of flights for their return to mainland Spain.
The procedure will be carried out under strict prevention protocols. All passengers must wear FFP2 masks during disembarkation and transfer operations, while the teams responsible for assistance and evacuation will work equipped with personal protective gear. Additionally, four specialists—deployed earlier this week to supervise and coordinate the health response to the outbreak detected on board—remain inside the ship.
Among the first individuals to leave the cruise ship is one of the international experts mobilized to manage the crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) specialist will travel alongside the group of Spanish nationals on a military aircraft bound for Torrejón Air Base, having been exposed to the hazardous situation that arose on the ship. Subsequently, he will be transferred to the Gómez Ulla Central Defense Hospital, in accordance with the protocol activated by the Ministry of Health. As preparations for the evacuation continue, the MV Hondius has already carried out maneuvers within one of the docks at the port of Tenerife, and everything remains in readiness to commence disembarkation once dawn breaks over the archipelago.
All of this unfolds amidst reservations expressed by the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, who has reiterated his opposition to allowing the cruise ship to anchor in Tenerife, on the grounds that such an operation could compromise the health security of the islands. The regional leader further criticized the lack of coordination with the central government and denounced the failure to provide him with sufficient information or detailed reports regarding the medical status of the passengers, although he did convey his support for those affected.
In this vein, Clavijo emphasized that the regional executive possesses no absolute guarantees regarding the absence of risks, and underscored that the decisions taken are in accordance with the recommendations of the Canarian health authorities, who advocate for minimizing the vessel’s time spent in the archipelago’s waters.
