MV Hondius to reach Rotterdam for quarantine and disinfection

The MV Hondius is set to dock in Rotterdam with 27 people still aboard, and Dutch authorities will place the remaining crew in quarantine before the ship is disinfected. Oceanwide Expeditions said 25 crew members and two medical staff are still on the vessel, and none have shown symptoms linked to hantavirus.

The ship is due to arrive on Monday, 18 May, after a multinational response that has already emptied the passenger list and sent most of the crew home. Oceanwide said disembarkation in Rotterdam will happen in a staggered process under quarantine procedures set by Dutch authorities and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, known as RIVM. The company said the vessel will then undergo thorough cleaning and disinfection with GGD Rotterdam and local officials.

The outbreak began on a voyage from Ushuaia, Argentina, and quickly became a test of cruise-industry containment discipline. The World Health Organization said the ship carried 147 passengers and crew when the cluster was first reported on 2 May. By 13 May, WHO had counted 11 linked cases and three deaths. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control later said 12 cases had been reported, including nine confirmed, two probable and one inconclusive.

Dutch records show all passengers had been repatriated by 12 May. Oceanwide said 122 people in total, 87 passengers and 35 crew, were sent home to their countries, while Dutch passengers were placed in home quarantine with support from local health services. A charter flight carried 22 people to Eindhoven on 11 and 12 May, including 19 crew members and three medical staff. The crew on that flight included 17 Filipinos, one German national and one Dutch national. The medical team included a doctor from the United Kingdom and two epidemiologists from WHO and ECDC.

RIVM said testing identified the Andes variant of hantavirus, a strain that does not occur in the Netherlands and is mainly associated with South America. Health officials have warned that Andes hantavirus is the only hantavirus known to spread person-to-person under certain close-contact conditions, which is why WHO and ECDC have said additional cases could still emerge during an incubation period that can last up to eight weeks. RIVM says repatriated passengers are subject to six weeks of home quarantine with weekly testing and medical monitoring.

One German passenger who died aboard on 2 May remains tied to the repatriation process, and the ship’s luggage is still onboard for return in Rotterdam. For an industry that spent years learning how fast illness can move through confined spaces, the Hondius case is another reminder that quarantine, disinfection and rapid health coordination remain the first line of defense at sea.