All passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, which remained stranded at sea for weeks following a hantavirus-related death, have been evacuated under strict safety measures supervised by Spain’s Health Ministry.
The ship docked early Sunday at the port of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where health authorities carried out the evacuation with extensive precautionary protocols.
Passengers from Spain were the first to disembark from the vessel. Special flight arrangements have also been made to repatriate travellers from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland.
According to the Spanish Health Ministry, passengers from the United States will be placed under medical observation at a medical centre in Nebraska after returning home.
The evacuation follows growing concern over the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship, which led to the death of a passenger and several reported infections.
