Virus-hit cruise ship arrives in Tenerife

Almost a month after the first passenger died of the hantavirus on board the MV Hondius cruise ship, it has finally reached Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

Intensive preparations have been under way to receive the ship in the port of Granadilla and help more than 100 people onto shore to be repatriated.

The Hondius arrived near the port before dawn, but even now it won’t be permitted to reach shore: a security perimeter of one nautical mile will be enforced around the ship as it approaches the island.

Once in the port, it will drop anchor at sea to ensure its continuing isolation.

The complex operation to prevent the rare Andes strain of this virus spreading is described by Spain’s health minister as “unprecedented”.

Involving 23 countries, it has been meticulously planned for maximum safety and to answer the concerns of disgruntled locals. They include the president of the Canary Islands, who says he “won’t be calm” until all the passengers and crew have left.

“The risk of contagion for the general population is low,” health minister Mónica García repeated on Saturday.

“We believe that alarmism, misinformation and confusion are contrary to the basic principles of preserving public health.”

Security measures in the port, an industrial facility in the south of Tenerife, increased notably on Saturday. Spain’s military police and disaster response teams have both set up large reception tents and access to the waterfront is restricted.

Once the Hondius has been manoeuvred into place, by around 07:00 (06:00 GMT) on Sunday, medical teams will board to check everyone for signs of the virus. Latest reports say nobody else is showing symptoms.

Map showing the route of the cruise ship MV Hondius across the South Atlantic Ocean with a timeline of incidents. The ship departs Ushuaia, Argentina on 1 April. On 11 April, the first passenger dies at sea.

The route continues north east toward Africa. On 24 April, the wife of the deceased passenger is flown from St Helena to South Africa. A marker near South Africa notes: 26 April, a woman dies in Johannesburg; 27 April, a second sick passenger is flown to hospital. On 2 May, another passenger dies onboard. On 3 May, the ship arrives at Cape Verde.

A final note indicates the ship is due to arrive in Tenerife on 10 May. The route is shown as a red line with arrows and black dots marking key locations.

People will then be divided into groups by nationality and ferried to the coast in small boats. By then, charter planes should be on the tarmac at the local airport, ready to repatriate them.

Earlier on Saturday, the interior minister said the UK, US and multiple EU member states were all sending planes. Medically-equipped aircraft are on standby, too, should anyone need to be taken into isolation.

Otherwise, Spanish nationals will be flown to Madrid, where they face a mandatory quarantine in the Gomez Ulla military hospital. Complete isolation would be gruelling – the virus has an incubation period of up to nine weeks – and it is not clear how long people in Spain or elsewhere will be quarantined.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, now in Tenerife to oversee the disembarking, has praised the authorities for their “solid and effective response” to this outbreak.

It has been linked to a landfill site in the southernmost tip of Argentina, popular with birdwatchers. The virus is carried there by rodents, and it’s rare for it to pass between people, but three cruise passengers have died.