MV Hondius Liner with 4 Ukrainians Returns to Netherlands After Hantavirus Outbreak on May 18

The cruise liner MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak occurred, has completed its journey from the Caribbean islands and arrived in the Netherlands. Among the crew members are four citizens of Ukraine.

According to «European Pravda», citing NOS, the liner docked in the port of Rotterdam on the morning of May 18, where it was met by numerous media representatives. Special facilities have been prepared in the port for the quarantine of foreign crew members if their repatriation to their home countries is not possible.

On board the MV Hondius are two Dutch citizens, 17 Filipinos, four Ukrainians, and one Pole and one Russian. Currently, none of them show symptoms of the disease. The body of a German passenger who died from hantavirus last week also remains on board the liner.

After disembarkation, all crew members will be tested, and the liner itself will undergo thorough disinfection for approximately one week. Previously, laboratory tests did not confirm hantavirus in a previous group evacuated from the vessel, but the disease was diagnosed in a Frenchwoman during a repatriation flight from Tenerife and in one of 14 Spanish passengers. Additionally, several external individuals were infected after brief contact with a sick person on board a plane in South Africa.