Passengers and crew from hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrive in Netherlands

The final group of passengers and crew from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship has been evacuated to Eindhoven, Netherlands, where they will undergo quarantine before returning home. The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has led to three deaths and the repatriation of 94 people in a complex, weeks-long operation.

Nasaybah Hussain/Reuters

12 May 2026 at 02:09:38

Passengers and crew from hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrive in Netherlands

Personnel in hazmat suits walk near a plane carrying passengers evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, after it landed at the Eindhoven Air Base in Eindhoven, Netherlands May 12, 2026.

Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters

The last six passengers and around 19 crew members evacuated from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship landed in the Dutch city of Eindhoven in the early hours of Tuesday (May 12).

Two planes left the Spanish island of Tenerife by plane late on Monday (May 11).

They will be quarantined in the Netherlands before returning to their home countries.

A complex operation had thus far resulted in 94 people being evacuated and repatriated to their countries of residence, 41 days after the MV Hondius set off from southern Argentina and nine days after the first positive test result for the respiratory hantavirus infection.

Three people - a Dutch couple and a German national - have died since the start of the outbreak on the ship of the virus, which is usually spread by wild rodents but can also be transmitted person-to-person in rare cases of close contact.

-Nasaybah Hussain/Reuters