The operator of the Dutch-flagged cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak said it expects to know by the end of this week whether the MV Hondius can keep its sailing schedule for coming months. Oceanwide Expeditions told The Associated Press that it is seeking “clarity on whether the vessel will sail and the sailing schedule by the end of this week,” after previously saying earlier it did not foresee changes to operations.
On its website, Oceanwide Expeditions listed the Hondius as scheduled to depart on a cruise later in May that would take it to the Arctic. Three of the ship’s passengers died during the outbreak, which was first confirmed earlier this month while the vessel was in the Atlantic, according to the AP report.
Oceanwide Expeditions said the outbreak has produced nine confirmed cases and two suspected cases in all. The company also said more than 120 people—passengers and some crew—were evacuated from the Hondius in Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday and Monday, and were in isolation in several countries.
When asked on Monday whether it would amend the cruise schedule because of the outbreak, Oceanwide Expeditions said it did not “foresee changes to our operations,” including a new cruise beginning May 29 from Keflavik, Iceland. But the company told AP on Wednesday that it expected more definite guidance about sailing and the schedule after coordinating with health authorities.
In a separate development also reported Wednesday, French authorities said more than 1,700 passengers and crew aboard a British cruise ship were ordered to remain on board after an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness. The French authorities ruled out any link to the Hondius hantavirus outbreak, and the AP report noted that U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data recorded 16 gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships in 2024, most caused by norovirus.
The AP report said the Hondius was sailing to the Dutch port of Rotterdam with 25 crew, two health workers and the body of one passenger who died on board. None of those aboard, Oceanwide Expeditions said, was showing symptoms, and the vessel was expected to arrive May 17 or 18, according to a company statement described by AP.
Once in Rotterdam, the company said the Hondius would undergo “a thorough cleaning and disinfection process.” Oceanwide Expeditions said the ship’s “specific protocols are currently being finalized” in cooperation with health authorities, and it said it was following official guidelines while awaiting further information about how to proceed.
The AP report said the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment told AP that the vessel “will be cleaned and disinfected” and that it was working on the protocol for how to do it, adding that no further details could be shared. Oceanwide Expeditions also said it would not comment on commercial matters while focusing on safety and disembarkation procedures.
Experts cited by AP said many details about hantavirus still remain uncertain, including how it spreads, how long it can survive outside a host, and why symptoms can range from mild to severe. The AP report said there is no specific treatment or cure for hantavirus, but early medical attention can increase survival chances, citing World Health Organization information about Andes virus incubation and mortality.
The virus is usually associated with rodent droppings and generally is not easily transmitted between people, AP reported, though it said the Andes virus may spread between people in rare cases. European public health officials told AP that the virus’s genome has been completely sequenced, and Andreas Hoefer, who oversees operational coordination of the European Union’s reference laboratories for public health, said there was “no data to suggest that this virus is behaving differently in terms of transmissibility or severity.”
AP also reported statements from virus experts including Erik Hill, of Seton Hall University, who said normal disinfectants and ultraviolet light are enough to kill the virus, and that people cleaning rodent droppings in enclosed spaces are most at risk. Hill said hantavirus “is not the concern on cruise ships,” adding that more contagious pathogens such as measles or norovirus have been larger threats on cruise vessels.
Dr. Max Brito, vice president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told AP that “with proper disinfection and sterilization practices, I think it should be OK to go back to operations within a reasonable time.” However, AP reported that experts could not provide a definitive timeline because of variables that can affect how long the virus survives.
Oceanwide Expeditions told AP it has no indication of any rodents on board and that it operates under strict hygiene and safety protocols. Based on what Brito described as the hypothesis that the first patients were likely exposed on land and that ship officials did not find rodents on board, he said the risk to people on a next cruise should be low, though he added it is not “so easy to reproduce” in the same way.