The Spanish Minister of Health, Mónica García, has assured that everything is prepared for the arrival at the port of Granadilla, in Tenerife, of the cruise ship on which the hantavirus outbreak occurred and whose passenger remains without symptoms of the disease.
García offered a press conference together with the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, and the Spanish ministers of the Interior, Fernando Grande Marlarka, and of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, with whom he inspected the port infrastructure where the MV Hondius cruise ship will arrive at dawn on Sunday, May 10.
While eight countries have already arranged and scheduled their flights to repatriate the passengers and crew of the Hondius ship, affected by the outbreak.
With a journey that lasted, if completed, 46 days, the first Class 6 polar ship recorded in history, according to the Oceanwide Expeditions website, departed on March 20 from Ushuahia, in the Tierra del Fuego province of Argentina, from where it began a captivating, icy and almost devoid of human presence tour through different parts of the Atlantic Ocean, which included the paradisiacal Malvinas Islands or South Georgia.
On this expedition, the ship was carrying 149 passengers of 23 nationalities, including 14 Spaniards, according to the latest statement from Oceanwide Expedition. There is also a Guatemalan on the crew.
The Hondius is designed specifically for expeditions in polar regions, focused on science and research.
May 9
May 9, 2026, 3:50 p.m.
Six confirmed hantavirus cases, awaiting disembarkation
The World Health Organization raises the confirmed cases of hantavirus to six after the outbreak declared on the MV Hondius cruise ship, while on the Spanish island of Tenerife (Atlántico) the device is being finalized for passengers to disembark and be repatriated to their countries.
WHO raises the confirmed cases of hantavirus to six after the positive of a suspected contagion
According to the latest report released by the WHO, as of May 8, eight cases related to the outbreak have been reported, of which six have been confirmed as infections by…
— Process (@process) May 9, 2026
May 9, 2026, 3:35 p.m.
French people on the hantavirus cruise will be repatriated on a special flight
The five French passengers affected by the health alert registered on board a cruise ship in the Atlantic, whose arrival on the Spanish island of Tenerife is scheduled for early Sunday, will be repatriated to France on a specially chartered plane and accompanied by a protected crew, reports the French Ministry of Health.
#9May #Health #WHO
WHO considers all passengers of the MV Hondius cruise ship as high-risk contacts for Hantavirus and recommends active surveillance for 42 days after disembarkation. – @dw_espanol pic.twitter.com/t9rxREYp6q— Report Now (@ReporteYa) May 9, 2026
May 9, 2026, 3:25 p.m.
The Hondius cruise ship approaches Tenerife
The MV Hondius cruise ship will arrive on the coast of Tenerife early this Sunday, May 10, with around 150 people – including passengers and crew – who, as soon as they arrive on land, will be examined to verify the presence or absence of hantavirus symptoms, announces the director of prevention and preparedness of epidemics and pandemics of the World Health Organization (WHO), Maria Van Kerkhove.
#BREAKING | Everything is prepared for the arrival at the port of Granadilla, in Tenerife, of the Hondius cruise ship, whose passenger remains without symptoms of hantavirus. pic.twitter.com/ykhevWHJIB
— EFE News (@EFEnoticias) May 9, 2026