Sailing through hell: Life onboard the hantavirus-hit cruise ship

All eyes are on the cruise ship which is currently in the grip of a hantavirus outbreak.

At least three passengers have died aboard the MV Hondius ship operated by Oceanwide Expeditions and four others are ill. While Spain has said that the ship will be allowed in the Canary Islands, the local government has refused to do so.

The ship, which departed Ushuaia in southern Argentina in March, was marketed as an Antarctic nature expedition. Around 150 passengers are on board the MV Hondius, which is sitting in Cape Verde, off the west coast of Africa.

But what do we know about the passengers’ lives on the ship?

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Let’s take a closer look.

Watching movies, employing social distancing

According to The New York Times, the passengers have been stuck on board the MV Hondius for nearly a month.

All the passengers are currently isolating in their cabins. According to CNN, passengers are having their meals delivered to their cabins. They are also taking lone strolls upon the deck of the Hondius. Travel vlogger Kasem Hato told the outlet that while the passengers are taking the situation seriously, they are not letting it get to them.

“We are trying to follow the recommendations we have received, such as reducing direct contact with other passengers and sanitising our hands as much as possible,” Hato said. “Our days are going almost normally. We are trying to keep ourselves busy by reading, watching movies, drinking hot beverages, and so on.”

A view of the inside of the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius. Passengers are said to be watching movies and isolating. AP

Passenger Jake Rosmarin agreed that “everyone else onboard is doing well and remains in good spirits”. Rosmarin added that passengers are wearing masks and employing social distancing.

Hato told the BBC that “the whole situation has been blown out of proportion”. He said this is “partly because of one person panicking on the ship whose video has been circulating in the media,” seemingly in reference to Rosmarin. “While his reaction is valid, it doesn't represent the situation on board. Everyone else (148 out of 149) has been calm, the situation is under control and we just wish those who are sick a speedy recovery.”

Rosmarin, in a video earlier, said, “What’s happening right now is very real for all of us. We’re not just headlines. We’re people with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home.” He made the remarks with his voice trembling as he choked back tears, a ring on his ring finger visible in the frame. “All we want is to feel safe and to get home,” he added.

“I’m feeling well, getting some fresh air and continuing to be well fed and taken care of by the crew onboard,” Rosmarin later wrote on Instagram. “Just trying to focus on the positive, think about the good things, and keep a smile on my face.”

A passenger speaking to the BBC on condition of anonymity said the passengers thought they would be spending at least another three to four days at sea. “At this point, we don't know when we will leave,” the passenger said.

Helene Goessaert, another passenger, told Belgian broadcaster VRT that everyone on board is “in the same boat, literally.” “You don’t embark on a trip with the idea that one of your fellow passengers won’t make it,” she said. “We receive information at regular intervals. It is accurate. For the rest, it is a waiting game,” she added. “Today we received fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. That was very important to us.”

Hato also dismissed any notion of the hantavirus becoming an epidemic. “This virus is not new to the world. If it were going to become an epidemic, it would have happened a long time ago,” he told CNN.

How are authorities responding?

The authorities, meanwhile, are trying to keep things calm. Representatives of Oceanwide Expeditions told The New York Times that they had employed “isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring.”

The BBC quoted the operator as saying that the situation “remains calm, with passengers generally composed”. “Oceanwide Expeditions is working to provide clarity and reassurance to guests and expedite their disembarkation and medical screening,” the company said in a statement.

Oceanwide Expeditions said on Tuesday evening that two specialised aircraft were flying to Cape Verde to evacuate two people who need urgent medical care and one person who was travelling with a German woman who died on board on Saturday. They were to be taken to the Netherlands, though exactly when that would happen was not immediately clear.

While Spain has said that the ship will be allowed in the Canary Islands, the local government has refused to do so. AP

The World Health Organization is also counselling calm. “Based on the current information, including how hantavirus spreads, WHO assesses the risk to the global population from this event as low,” it said. Officials say the hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings.

Authorities in Cape Verde have said they sent teams of doctors, surgeons, nurses and laboratory specialists to the Hondius. They were seen in video footage wearing white overalls, boots and face masks as they disembarked to a smaller vessel. Officials in Cape Verde’s capital of Praia, a city of fewer than 200,000 people, said they have stepped up safety protocols, particularly near the port, as a precautionary measure against the rodent-borne illness — which doesn’t usually spread from person to person, though health authorities say it might be possible.

However, Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo has refused to let the MV Hondius vessel dock in the Canary Islands. According to Al Jazeera, he has called for an emergency meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

FAQs

1. What is hantavirus and how does it spread?

Hantavirus is a rodent-borne disease that typically spreads through inhalation of particles from contaminated rodent droppings, urine or saliva.

2. Can hantavirus spread from person to person?

It usually does not spread between people, though in rare cases certain strains may allow limited human-to-human transmission.

3. Why hasn’t the cruise ship been allowed to dock?

Local authorities in the Canary Islands have refused docking due to safety concerns, despite Spain approving it.

With inputs from agencies