OAN Staff Addie Davis
9:07 AM – Sunday, May 10, 2026
The hantavirus-stricken luxury cruise ship, m/v Hondius, docked at the Canary Islands, Spain, off the coast of northwest Africa, nearing the end of its journey.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the cruise line, said the Dutch-flagged ship, carrying 147 passengers, including 17 Americans, docked at the Granadilla port on Tenerife on Sunday just before 6:30 a.m. local time.
Passengers will disembark in groups by nationality and will then board repatriation flights to their home countries.
“As outlined by the WHO, in partnership with several international organizations and governments, guests will be transported by air to their respective countries, where they will enter quarantine procedures. Respective national authorities determine these procedures. No quarantine of non-Spanish nationals will take place in Spain,” the cruise line said.
Media reported that many passengers have already departed the vessel and boarded special flights provided by their countries.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said U.S. passengers are planned to be evacuated through a special medical repatriation flight to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, and then are to be transported to the National Quarantine Center in the city.
Since the ship set sail in early April, three people, a Dutch couple and a German national, have died and several others have contracted the virus, though the outbreak was not identified until May 2nd.
Before then, some passengers had already left the ship, including several U.S. citizens, who have since returned to the United States, according to the CDC. However, no cases have been reported in the U.S.
The hantavirus usually spreads through encountering rodent droppings, urine or saliva and can be deadly. The Andes variant, the only strain of the virus known to spread between humans, is believed to be what caused the outbreak.
According to the cruise line, no symptomatic individuals are on board. However, the CDC noted a large window exists for symptoms to appear, anywhere from four to 42 day after exposure.
Health officials continue to maintain that a risk to the wider public remains low.
“The risk to the public’s health in the United States is considered extremely low at this time,” the CDC posted to X on Saturday.
After the passengers disembark, the ship will head on to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with the remaining crew, as well as reportedly the body of one of the deceased individuals, the journey time expected to be five days.
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