MV Hondius: the ice-breaking expedition cruise hit with suspected hantavirus outbreak

With a fortified hull that can break through ice, the MV Hondius – the scene of a suspected hantavirus outbreak – is not the average cruise ship. The 107-metre polar explorer vessel is small, nimble and made for touring the natural wonders of Arctic and Antarctic waters.

In place of the amusement arcades, ballrooms and deck-top waterparks that may be found on larger vessels, such as those where thousands became marooned during the Covid pandemic, the Hondius has an open observation lounge and lecture room in which biologists, geologists and glaciologists give lectures.

Its 85 passengers are told to be in good health before their voyage, and “able to walk several hours per day”. Age can range up to people in their 80s, but the majority are between 45 and 65. Two inflatable Zodiac boats can be launched to take passengers for expeditions to rocky shores.

“Remember, you will be traveling in remote areas without access to sophisticated medical facilities, so you must not join this expedition if you have a life-threatening condition or need daily medical treatment,” the operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, says on its website.

Three people – a Dutch couple and a German man – are now dead from what health authorities say could be an outbreak of deadly hantavirus, which is usually spread from rodents via their faeces, saliva or urine and can cause severe respiratory illness.

Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Tuesday that the assumption was that people had initially been infected off the ship during an excursion. “This was an expedition boat and many of the people onboard were doing bird watching; they were doing a lot of things with wildlife,” she said.

It is rarely transmitted between people, but the WHO said it believed there could be some human-to-human transmission among “really close contacts”.

Another person, a British national, has became seriously ill. They were evacuated to South Africa, and remain in intensive care in Johannesburg. Two crew members have also developed breathing issues and are due to be evacuated by helicopter or boat.

The passengers, and 61 crew, have been stuck off Cape Verde – an island nation off the coast of West Africa – which has asked the ship to stay at sea as a precaution. The vessel hopes to head for the Canary islands, where Spanish authorities could conduct an epidemiological investigation and fully disinfect the ship.

Life for those onboard will be different depending on their cabin class, or whether they are crew. The largest nationality is 38 people from the Philippines, who are all crew. The rest are a mixture of several nationalities including 23 people from Britain, 17 from the US and 14 from Spain.

The largest guest room, a 26-sq-metre “grand suite”, has a private balcony; the smallest is 12 sq metres. All have private bathrooms and windows.

Footage since the suspected outbreak has shown the decks deserted, and people wearing masks. People with full protective gear have been seen in a small vessel alongside the ship.

Few accounts from inside the ship have been shared, but on Monday, a US travel blogger released a video. “We’re not just headlines: we are people,” Jake Rosmarin said in a teary video posted to social media. “People with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home. There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that’s the hardest part.”

On Tuesday, Rosmarin posted an update with a photo of him smiling – possibly to allay fears for those inside the ship. He wrote in a caption that the company and crew were “doing everything they can to keep us safe and informed”.

Oceanwide Expeditions, which is based in the Netherlands, said it had launched a response plan. “This is currently at level 3, the highest response level,” it said, adding that the plan included isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring.

The company and its crew will have prepared for an event like this. The coronavirus pandemic led cruise companies to improve their infectious diseases outbreak plans. Their protocols include upgraded ventilation and even thermal cameras for “continuous automated temperature screening”.

The problems arose during a Atlantic Odyssey trip, with Cape Verde being the originally intended final destination after a 42-night voyage including whale watching in Antarctic waters and views of migratory birds, including Arctic terns.

A 70-year-old Dutch man died while the ship was in the Atlantic, and his body remained onboard for nearly two weeks until it reached the isolated British outpost of Saint Helena. The man’s wife, 69, disembarked with his body, but later collapsed and died in South Africa.

Two crew members, one British and one Dutch, have been suffering from acute respiratory distress. The body of a third deceased passenger – the German national – remains on the vessel.