The hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius was due to dock in Rotterdam on Monday morning for disinfection, with Dutch authorities preparing quarantine arrangements for the 25 crew members and two medical staff remaining on board.
Local authorities said quarantine facilities had been set up for some of the non-Dutch crew, though it was not yet clear whether they would stay there for the full recommended 42-day quarantine period.
The Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship had been carrying around 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses among passengers was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2. Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — have died since the outbreak began.
The vessel, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, had been stranded off Cape Verde, its intended final destination, earlier this month after authorities barred passengers from going ashore due to the outbreak. The WHO and the EU asked Spain to manage the evacuation at the Canary Islands, after which the ship departed for Rotterdam with a skeleton crew and two additional medical staff.
Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents but can be transmitted between people in rare cases and after prolonged, close contact. Incubation can last about six weeks.
Crew, passengers who already left the ship and people in contact with them have been quarantined in several countries around the world.
The current outbreak involves the so-called Andes virus, which has circulated in Argentina and Chile for decades. Ship samples show no meaningful variation in the virus, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has said.
The Rotterdam berthing marks the end of the vessel’s two-week diversion that began with its departure from Tenerife on May 7 and earlier saw evacuation planes flown into the Canary Islands, with parallel international quarantine cases since reported including 18 US passengers held in Nebraska and a French national showing symptoms in Tenerife. The first three fatalities were confirmed on May 4.
