The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has deployed health officials to meet American passengers aboard the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius in the Canary Islands as Spanish authorities raise concerns over deteriorating weather conditions that could complicate evacuation plans.
The vessel is expected to dock at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Spain’s largest Canary Island, in the early hours of Sunday, May 10, according to operator Oceanwide Expeditions, although the company noted that the schedule “is subject to change.”
The outbreak, linked to the Andes strain of hantavirus, has so far resulted in six confirmed cases and two probable infections, according to the World Health Organization.
Attention has now shifted to the disembarkation process as worsening sea and wind conditions are forecast from Tuesday, potentially making evacuation operations difficult.
“We have been warned that from Tuesday, the weather is going to change, and it is going to get worse,” Manuel Domínguez, vice president of the Canary Islands regional government, said after a meeting with Dutch officials on Friday.
He added that after Tuesday, “both sea conditions and wind will change and will reduce or make it impossible for disembarkation to occur.”
Oceanwide Expeditions stated that arrangements for the ship’s arrival, quarantine measures, screening protocols and onward travel for passengers and crew were being coordinated by international agencies, including the World Health Organization.
The US CDC confirmed that epidemiologists and medical experts would assess every American passenger upon the vessel’s arrival in Tenerife.
According to a source familiar with the operation, the Americans are expected to be evacuated aboard a chartered aircraft equipped with a biocontainment unit similar to those used during Covid-19 emergency evacuations.
Spain’s Secretary General for Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, said the vessel would remain anchored away from the dock at a location designated by maritime authorities as “the safest” point for the operation.
Passengers are expected to leave the ship in stages according to nationality using small inflatable boats.
Spain’s Health Minister, Mónica García, said 14 Spanish nationals on board would be transferred to a military hospital following medical examinations, while other passengers would be repatriated to their respective countries.
Spain’s Ministry of Health said those admitted to the military facility would stay in isolated rooms without visitors and undergo PCR testing upon arrival and again after seven days.
“In addition, active monitoring will be carried out, which includes recording their temperature twice a day to promptly detect any compatible symptoms,” the ministry stated.
The planned docking has generated unease among residents and workers in Tenerife. Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo had earlier voiced opposition to the vessel docking in the region.
Port workers staged protests on Friday over what they described as insufficient communication regarding the health risks.
“The problem is not working at the harbor itself; the problem is for them (the passengers) to have contact with people living here on the island,” one dockworker told Reuters.
Barcones, however, sought to calm fears, stressing that everyone currently on board is asymptomatic.
“All areas the passengers will transit will be isolated, and there will be no contact with civilian personnel,” she said.
Health officials also disclosed that passengers would be moved directly from the port to waiting aircraft on the runway, with disembarkation only beginning once airport authorities confirmed the planes were prepared for immediate departure.
Meanwhile, the CDC said another response team had been sent to Nebraska to receive and monitor returning American passengers at the National Quarantine Unit operated by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Oceanwide Expeditions estimated that 17 Americans remain aboard the vessel, all of whom are currently symptom-free.
“We are prepared for situations exactly like this,” Nebraska Medicine CEO Dr. Michael Ash said.
“Our teams have trained for decades alongside federal and state partners to make sure we can safely provide care while protecting our staff and the broader community.”
The US State Department said it was coordinating repatriation efforts with the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services and Spanish authorities.
Officials added that consular assistance would be provided once the ship arrives in Tenerife.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the administration would soon provide more details on its containment efforts, telling reporters the situation is “very much, we hope, under control.”
US health officials are also monitoring seven former passengers across Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas and Virginia who had earlier left the vessel. Authorities said none had developed symptoms.
New Jersey health officials are additionally observing two people believed to have been exposed to an infected passenger after leaving the MV Hondius.
The outbreak was first reported to the WHO on May 2, with the agency maintaining that the overall risk to the public remains low.
Three passengers, a Dutch couple and a German national, have died since the cruise departed Argentina last month, while several others have been evacuated for medical treatment.
