The cruise ship, which was hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, arrived early on Sunday near the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Reuters footage showed, where it will anchor for the evacuation of passengers and some crew.
The passengers, none of whom has displayed signs of infection, will be tested by Spanish health authorities to ensure they remain asymptomatic and then transported to land in small boats, according to Spanish officials.
Sealed-off buses will then take passengers to the Spanish island’s main airport, about 10 minutes away, where they will board flights to their respective countries.
All passengers on the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius are considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure, Europe’s public health agency said late on Saturday as part of its rapid scientific advice.
The agency urged symptomatic passengers to be prioritized for medical assessment and testing on arrival, adding that they may be isolated in Tenerife or medically evacuated to their home country, depending on their condition.
The evacuation is expected to begin between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m., according to Spanish authorities.
WHO director arrives in Tenerife
Spanish nationals are set to disembark first, with other nationalities to follow in groups, government officials said on Saturday. Thirty crew members will remain on board and sail to the Netherlands, where the ship will be disinfected.
The ship left for Spain on Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde, after the World Health Organization and the European Union asked the country to manage the evacuation of passengers following the detection of a hantavirus outbreak.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived on Saturday evening in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, alongside Spain’s interior and health ministers and its minister for territorial policy, to coordinate the ship’s arrival.
The WHO said on Friday that eight people had fallen ill, including three who died – a Dutch couple and a German national. Six of these people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another two suspected cases, the WHO has said.
Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents, but can, in rare cases, be transmitted person-to-person. The WHO has said the risk to the wider global population is low, but the risk to passengers and crew on the ship is moderate.
