Virus-Hit cruise ship passengers disembark in Spain after quarantine: Video
Last passengers leave the vessel as authorities conclude a major international health operation.
The final passengers disembarked the MV Hondius in Tenerife, marking the end of a quarantine triggered by a hantavirus outbreak that disrupted its voyage. The ship docked at the Port of Granadilla, where passengers left in protective gear after a staged evacuation that began a day earlier, while a small crew remained onboard to sail the vessel to Rotterdam for disinfection. Authorities from 23 countries coordinated what was described as an unprecedented operation, involving medical screenings, contact tracing, and repatriation efforts across multiple continents. According to the World Health Organization, nine cases were identified, including seven confirmed infections and three deaths, after the outbreak—linked to the ship’s South America route—spread internationally through earlier disembarkations.
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