MV Hondius completes tasks in Granadilla to depart for the Netherlands
The Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by the hantavirus outbreak, is refueling and completing preparations in the port of Granadilla in the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Altantico) for departure to the Netherlands, after completing the disembarkation of the remaining passengers who did not arrive yesterday, this Monday.
A total of 94 passengers from the cruise ship anchored off the port of Granadilla disembarked on Saturday to board various flights to their departure points, with another 24 scheduled for Monday.
The operation to resupply the ship, usually at anchor, will last between four and five hours depending on the pressure applied, Puertos de Tenerife President Pedro Suarez explained to reporters today.
He pointed out that the captain of the MV Hondius requested this refueling given that the cruise ship had been sailing for quite some time and was consuming fuel, and its final destination was the port of Rotterdam (Netherlands).
Suarez stressed that the weather conditions are «perfect» as there is no wind, which is often the case in Granadilla, and there are no waves.
In addition to fuel, the cruise ship will receive supplies via barges used to evacuate passengers and crew.
The operation to anchor and disembark passengers in the port of Granadilla, coordinated by the World Health Organization and the Spanish government, is «working very, very well, despite the extraordinary situation,» Suarez emphasized, due to what is happening throughout the day.
The last passengers are due to disembark on Monday afternoon, taking two flights: one to Australia carrying six people, and another from the Netherlands with 18 passengers.
The ship dropped anchor early Sunday morning with 151 people on board, including 147 passengers and crew, as well as two epidemiologists from the Netherlands and two representatives from the WHO and SDC, an agency of the International Maritime Organization.
The cruise ship departed on April 1 from the port terminal of Ushuaia, Argentina's southernmost city, bound for Cape Verde.
An outbreak of hantavirus occurred during the crossing, leading to three deaths and six more cases confirmed by the WHO as of last Saturday, plus two more in passengers repatriated yesterday – an American and a French woman.
A cruise ship carrying hantavirus cases has arrived in the Canary Islands
Nearly a month after the first passenger died from hantavirus on board the cruise ship MV Hondius, the ship has arrived in Tenerife, Canary Islands. More than 90 passengers are scheduled to depart the island by Sunday evening, disembarking in small groups.
From a distance, cameras can be seen as passengers, all wearing white surgical masks, wander the deck and peer out the windows.
Disembarking passengers are wearing special protective clothing and surgical masks, and staff in white suits, also wearing masks, are working with them.
In some cases, passengers are dressed in white hazmat suits and sprayed with disinfectant from a fire hose before boarding.
The first group of 14 Spanish citizens has already been sent on a special charter plane to the Gómez Ulla Military Hospital in Madrid; the flight has landed at their destination airport.
These people will face mandatory quarantine in a military hospital. Complete isolation will be grueling—the incubation period for the virus is up to nine weeks—and it is still unclear how long people in Spain or other countries will be quarantined.
Citizens of France and the United Kingdom have also already returned home.
All passengers have been divided into groups based on their nationality. The last plane carrying Australian citizens is scheduled to depart on Monday.
The cruise ship MV Hondius departed Argentina for Antarctica on April 1. Three people — an elderly Dutch couple and a German citizen — have died as a result of an outbreak on board.
Complex operation
The port of Granadilla made meticulous preparations to receive the ship and evacuate more than 100 people ashore for repatriation.
The ship approached the port before dawn, but was not allowed to dock. A security perimeter with a radius of one nautical mile (1,852 meters) was established around the ship.
The Spanish Ministry of Health called the operation to prevent the spread of the rare Andean strain of this virus unprecedented.
Twenty-three countries are participating, and it was meticulously planned to ensure maximum safety and address the concerns of disgruntled locals. Among those dissatisfied was the President of the Canary Islands, who declared that he «would not rest» until all passengers and crew had left the island.
«The risk of infection for the general population is low,» Mónica García reiterated on Saturday. «We believe that panic, misinformation, and confusion are contrary to the basic principles of epidemiology.»
On Saturday, security measures at the port, a major industrial site in southern Tenerife, were significantly increased. Spanish military police and emergency response teams erected large tents to receive people, and access to the quay was restricted.
Garcia reported that medical teams boarded the ship and checked passengers and crew for signs of the virus. None of the passengers showed symptoms, she added.
Passengers are being transferred from the ship to shore on small boats. Charter flights are arriving at the local airport to repatriate the passengers to their home countries.
Where could the virus come from?
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, currently in Tenerife supervising the disembarkation of passengers, praised the authorities for their «robust and effective response» to the outbreak.
The hantavirus outbreak has been linked to a waste disposal site on the southern tip of Argentina, popular with birdwatchers. The virus is carried there by rodents and rarely spreads from person to person, but three cruise ship passengers have died.
Therefore, the WHO chief urged concerned Spaniards to trust those in charge of the evacuation.
«Your concern is justified, given the experience with COVID: the trauma is still fresh in our minds,» he acknowledged. Ghebreyesus added, however, that the risk of a wider spread of the infection is currently low «due to the way the virus operates and the preparations the Spanish government has made to avoid any problems.»
Dozens of intensive care specialists are on standby at Tenerife's Candelaria Hospital in case any of the passengers' conditions deteriorate sharply during transport. The isolation ward has one bed fully equipped for infectious disease treatment, including testing kits and a ventilator.
«We are absolutely prepared,» said Sarah Rainsford, head of the intensive care unit, Mar Martin. «We have never encountered hantavirus before, but it is a virus with complications, just like those we deal with every day. We are fully prepared for this.»
On Sunday night, carefully laid plans were temporarily jeopardized when Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo announced he would refuse to allow the ship into port because it was impossible to disembark passengers in one day.
Clavijo then said on television that a rat carrying hantavirus could «get off the ship in the middle of the night and endanger the inhabitants of the Canary Islands.» The Health Minister responded by stating that such a scenario «presents no risk.»
Now the situation has become clearer and calmer.
«The virus is certainly dangerous. But they say you can only get infected through very close contact,» says Jennifer, walking with her child in Tenerife's capital, Santa Cruz. «If we're careful, we hope everything will be alright.»
Others were irritated that Madrid had decided to send the Hondius to the island—though this is more of a political than a medical issue.
Some recalled how officials had once reassured the population about the coronavirus before the pandemic gained momentum.
But, as Sarah Rainsford reports from Tenerife, there's no panic on the island.
«If they don't get off the ship here, we'll be fine,» says Esteban. «If the measures are adequate, I don't think people here will worry,» agrees his friend Isabel. Not everyone will leave the ship in Tenerife: about 30 crew members will remain on board to steer the vessel back to the Netherlands. But for most, weeks of fear and uncertainty at sea appear to be over.