MV Hondius passengers will be disinfected before they can fly back to their home countries. Image: keystone
May 10, 2026, 8:36 p.mMay 10, 2026, 8:45 p.m
Four German passengers from the cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak arrived in the Netherlands on an evacuation flight. The plane coming from the Canary Island of Tenerife with a total of 26 passengers and crew members from the “Hondius” landed in Eindhoven in the evening. In addition to Dutch and Germans, there were also Belgians and Greeks on board, all without symptoms, as the Spanish Ministry of Health announced before departure.
Specialists were waiting for the evacuees at the airport, including employees of the Red Cross and the city of Eindhoven. As the Dutch health authorities announced, the passengers will be medically examined. The Dutch passengers are then brought home, where they have to quarantine at home for six weeks.
German passengers are brought to Frankfurt
The Germans should first be brought to Frankfurt. Emergency services from the Essen fire department and the Frankfurt fire department were requested for the transport, as the German Press Agency learned. They are supposed to pick up the four passengers at the military part of Eindhoven Airport. That night they travel to Frankfurt in a so-called special isolation transport and then to the respective federal states for quarantine. The responsible health authorities decide on the measures.
One of the German passengers on the cruise ship “Hondius” affected by the hantavirus outbreak is to be taken to the Berlin Charité. According to the responsible Berlin Senate Department for Health, the person has not yet shown any symptoms and comes “from the Berlin-Brandenburg region”.
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A symptom-free German contact person from the cruise ship “Hondius” is to be quarantined at home in Baden-Württemberg. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Stuttgart announced this in the evening.
Several evacuation flights
Previously, three planes each carrying Spaniards, French and Canadians had taken off from the Spanish holiday island as part of the evacuation operation. Further aircraft from Great Britain, Ireland, Turkey and the USA should follow by the evening. Another machine from the Netherlands and an aircraft from Australia are scheduled to be used on Monday.
The “Hondius” entered the port of Granadilla on Tenerife early on Sunday morning. There were a total of 140 to 150 passengers, crew members and accompanying experts from 23 countries on the cruise ship. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, this included a mid-single-digit number of German citizens. According to the ship operator Oceanwide, a total of six Germans were on board.
According to the latest information from the WHO, there are six confirmed cases of hantavirus and two suspected cases. Three of these eight people have died. They are an older couple from the Netherlands and a woman from Germany. The WHO suspects that the chain of infection started from the Dutch couple, who may have become infected on land before embarking in Argentina.
“Hondius” continues to Rotterdam
As soon as the people are off board, the “Hondius” should immediately continue its journey with part of the crew and head towards the Netherlands, whose flag it sails under. The bodies of the Germans who died on board should only be removed from the ship after they arrive in the port of Rotterdam. The ship is also disinfected in the Netherlands. The “Hondius” takes around five days to get to Rotterdam. It is not yet known when she will arrive there. (sda/dpa)