Spain began the process of removing passengers from the cruise ship hit by hantavirus, anchored near Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, this Sunday (10). Health authorities boarded the cruise to carry out a final check and begin disembarking passengers, the Spanish Ministry of Health said.
The , in a carefully planned repatriation operation, involving several nations, is expected.
Spanish citizens will be the first to disembark in small boats, in groups of five, and will be taken to the coast, where they will be transferred to buses and taken to the local airport.
The passengers will board a flight back to Madrid on a Spanish military plane, government officials said, stressing that they will have no contact with the public.
The ship left for Spain on Wednesday (6) from the coast of Cape Verde, after the World Health Organization and the European Union asked the country to coordinate the evacuation of passengers following the detection of the hantavirus outbreak.
All passengers on the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius are considered a precautionary measure, the European Public Health Agency said on Saturday as part of its rapid scientific opinion, adding that the risk to the general population remains low.
“The Netherlands will send two planes: the one today and another tomorrow, which we will call the ‘rescue plane’, to pick up any passengers who are not picked up by the other countries. But, in principle, throughout today and tomorrow (11), all passengers of all nationalities will disembark and return to their respective countries,” said Mônica Garcia, Spain’s Minister of Health.
Ship passed Health inspections
A report released by Spain’s Ministry of Health earlier confirmed that the ship had passed all necessary health inspections before dropping anchor.
“According to information provided by experts who boarded the ship, hygiene and environmental conditions are adequate and no rodents were detected, therefore transmission through exposure to rodents on board is unlikely,” the report says.
Countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands confirmed on Saturday that they had sent planes to , although local authorities in the Canary Islands said that not all planes had arrived by Sunday morning.
Passengers will not leave the boat until the designated evacuation plane arrives, Spanish authorities said.
Passengers from the Netherlands will be the next group to disembark the ship, and the plane they are traveling on will also carry passengers from Germany, Belgium and Greece, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said on Sunday.
After that, passengers from Türkiye, France, the United Kingdom and the United States will be evacuated, the minister added, speaking to reporters at the port of Tenerife.
“The last flight of the operation is departing from Australia… It is the most complex flight and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow afternoon,” Garcia said, adding that the final flight will pick up six people from Australia, New Zealand and other Asian countries.
Thirty crew members will remain on board and head to the Netherlands, where the ship will be disinfected.
