Following a hantavirus outbreak on Oceanwide Expedition’s MV Hondius ship, which has resulted in the death of three passengers, those on board the ship are speaking out about the ship’s environment.
“We’re not just a story. We’re not just headlines, we’re people with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home,” said Jake Rosmarin via TikTok, an American travel vlogger on board the MV Hondius.
Rosmarin is one of approximately 150 people from 23 countries on board the luxury cruise liner, according to BBC News.
The MV Hondius departed Argentina in early April with its passengers and crew. The trips itinerary included stops in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena and Ascension, according to The New York Times.
After the outbreak began, the ship diverted to Cape Verde, but local officials refused to let passengers disembark, according to The New York Times.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty and that is the hardest part. All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity and to get home,” Rosmarin shared on social media Monday.
Rosmarin’s account appears to be different from others on board who have largely described a calm environment on the MV Hondius.
“Our days have been close to normal,” Kasem Hato, a Jordanian travel influencer who posts online as Ibn Hatutta, said in an email, according to The New York Times. “Morale on the ship is high and we’re keeping ourselves busy with reading, watching movies, having hot drinks and that kind of things.”
Hato said, “the whole situation has been blown out of proportion”.
He noted it was “partly because of one person panicking on the ship whose video has been circulating [in] the media.”
“While his reaction is valid, it doesn’t represent the situation on board, everyone else (148 out of 149) has been calm, the situation is under control and we just wish those who are sick a speedy recovery”, Hato, also a travel influencer, posted on social media, according to BBC News.
Another passenger, Helene Goessaert, shared a video with The Associated Press, noting the things on the ship are “relatively good given the circumstances.”
Goessaert added that the group they are worried about the sick fellow passengers, noting “you don’t get on a boat with the idea that one of your hundred fellow passengers is going to die. That comes as a shock.”
Where will the ship dock next?
On Wednesday, three people were evacuated from the ship on two medical flights to the Netherlands, according to the Dutch foreign ministry. The evacuees included the ship’s doctor, a 56-year-old British man and a 41-year-old Dutch citizen who also works on the ship, The New York Times reported.
The ship is currently at the center of a jurisdictional tug-of-war. Spain’s national government had said the MV Hondius would be allowed to dock in the Canary Islands following a three- to four-day journey from Cape Verde, but the regional government has opposed the move, according to NBC News.
“This decision is not based on any technical criteria, nor is there sufficient information to reassure the public or guarantee their safety,” regional leader Fernando Clavijo said in a radio interview, NBC News reported.
Clavijo said he has requested a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, though the national government has authority to overrule regional officials, according to NBC News.
Despite the standoff, WHO maintains the threat to the general public is “low.”
“At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said on social media.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer released a statement on X regarding the situation, noting the British government is working with international partners to support the British citizens aboard the MV Hondius.
The outbreak on MV Hondius
The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that there are eight total cases linked to the MV Hondius, with three confirmed as hantavirus through laboratory testing. While humans typically contract the virus through contact with infected rodents, the WHO noted that human-to-human transmission is possible in the Andes virus strain.
The first fatality on the ship was a 70-year-old Dutch man who died on April 11. His wife, 69, became ill and died on April 26 in Johannesburg, South Africa, while flying home to the Netherlands.
The third fatality was a German passenger who died on May 2.
South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed all three deaths involved the Andes virus, primarily found in South America, according to The New York Times.