THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A cruise vessel connected to a fatal hantavirus outbreak must complete extended sanitization procedures before heading back to its home port, according to the company that runs the ship.
Oceanwide Expeditions announced Tuesday in a written statement that the additional work is happening at the recommendation of the GGD local health authority in Rotterdam, the port city where the ship returned early last week. The vessel’s home port is located in nearby Vlissingen in the southern Netherlands.
“Based on their inspection findings, GGD has advised additional cleaning,” the cruise company stated. “Following completion of this work, GGD will conduct a final inspection before the vessel can depart from Rotterdam.”
The company did not provide details about why extended cleaning was necessary, and the health authority did not immediately respond with comments about the reasoning behind the additional requirements.
Yvonne van Duijnhoven, the director of public health in Rotterdam, had indicated when the Hondius docked at the city’s expansive port eight days ago that cleaning and disinfecting the ship would probably require three days.
In a post shared Sunday on X, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that 12 hantavirus cases and three deaths have been documented by the organization so far, with no fatalities recorded since May 2.
“All passengers and crew remain in quarantine and under close monitoring to ensure they receive care if needed. The situation is stable for now. We continue to remain vigilant and in close contact with all relevant governments,” he stated.
Hantaviruses typically transmit when individuals breathe in contaminated particles from rodent waste. However, the specific hantavirus responsible for this outbreak, known as the Andes virus, might occasionally spread from person to person. Public health authorities indicate that the risk to the broader public from this cruise ship outbreak remains minimal.
Oceanwide Expeditions had earlier stated it did not anticipate any modifications to the Hondius’ operations. The vessel had an Arctic voyage scheduled to depart from Keflavik, Iceland, on May 29. However, in Tuesday’s announcement, the company indicated that “all voyages from 13 June onwards will proceed as scheduled. No further disruption to the sailing schedule of m/v Hondius is expected.”
