40 days on the Hondius
The journey of the Hantavirus ship
By Raghav Bikhchandani
The Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius left Ushuaia in southern Argentina on April 1 for what was supposed to be a relatively uneventful 24-day journey ending in Cape Verde. But the ship was hurled into global headlines a month later as it became the centre of a hantavirus outbreak.
Here’s a look at the cruise’s journey
April 1
The MV Hondius departs the port of Ushuaia in southern Argentina with 114 passengers and 61 crewmembers aboard, as part of a 33-day ‘Atlantic Odyssey’ for birders and wildlife enthusiasts.
April 5
The MV Hondius makes its first stop at South Georgia Island near Antarctica—known for its penguins, fur seals and elephant seals.
April 6
A 70-year-old Dutch man falls sick on board with fever, headache and mild diarrhoea.
Before boarding, the man and his wife, who is also Dutch, go sightseeing in Ushuaia, and travel elsewhere in Argentina and Chile, according to the World Health Organisation.
April 11
The Dutch man dies. His death is initially attributed to natural causes.
April 23
The MV Hondius makes a two-day stop at Tristan da Cunha, a group of remote volcanic islands known as a breeding spot for rare migratory birds.
April 15
Six people join the cruise when the ship stops at the remote archipelago of Tristan da Cunha, a British territory in the South Atlantic. The Dutch man’s body remains on board.
April 24
The MV Hondius stops at Saint Helena, where 30 passengers disembark, including the Dutch man's wife. She, and the man's body, are airlifted to Johannesburg. While aboard a flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, the widow begins showing symptoms of hantavirus and has to be removed from the plane.
April 26
She dies of the virus.
April 27
The MV Hondius makes its next stop at Ascension Island, where another passenger with hantavirus symptoms is evacuated to South Africa.
April 28
Another passenger, a German woman, falls sick on board as the ship sails for Cape Verde.
May 2
The German woman dies on board, while two crew members also begin experiencing symptoms. Her body remains on the ship. The same day, South African authorities received positive hantavirus test results for the British man. It’s the first time that the virus has been identified in the outbreak.
May 3
The ship drops anchor off the coast of Cape Verde. The Cape Verdean government provides medical aid, but denies entry into the country’s capital and main port, Praia. Three more people are evacuated from the ship to the Netherlands for treatment.
May 6
The Hondius departs Cape Verdean waters for Spain’s Canary Islands, as the Spanish government approves a passenger evacuation and repatriation plan from the islands.
May 10
The cruise ship arrives at the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife. The remaining passengers are evacuated and repatriated to 22 countries, with testing and contact tracing taking place at each destination. 26 crew members remain on board in order to disinfect the ship and remove the German woman’s body upon arrival at Rotterdam.
May 11
The MV Hondius has departed for Rotterdam with the remaining crew on board. It is expected to reach the Dutch port by May 16. A French woman and an American passenger who are being flown back also test positive.
Photos: Reuters/AFP/AP; Video courtesy: X/Monica_Garcia_G
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