Hantavirus-struck ship cleared to sail again

Dutch line Ocean Expeditions’ MV Hondius has been cleared to sail from later this month, following an outbreak of hantavirus that affected 13 guests.

Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed in a statement that voyages from 13 June onwards will proceed as scheduled after the ship was cleared on 30 May by Dutch health authority (GGD) officials.

“From a public health perspective, there are no objections to returning the vessel to service,” the GGD stated after a deep clean and disinfection of the ship took place.  

The first voyage will depart on 13 June from Longyearbyen, Svalbard.  

The cruise line said medical and epidemiological information had revealed that ‘hantavirus was introduced before embarkation and did not originate from the vessel or from our onboard operational standards’.  

Hantavirus is a rare rodent-borne disease that can cause severe respiratory illness in humans, typically transmitted through contact with infected rodents or their droppings. The Andean strain of the virus found on the ship was able to spread through close human-to-human contact, health experts confirmed.