A first group of passengers, all Spanish nationals, has begun to disembark from the cruise ship which was hit by a hantavirus outbreak and is headed to Tenerife's Port of Granadilla, Spain's health ministry said.
The passengers were transported directly from the port in military buses to the airport where they will be evacuated by a Spanish government plane to Madrid where they will taken to hospital and quarantined, officials have said.
Health officials boarded the boat earlier to conduct a final health screening check and begin disembarking passengers, Spain's health ministry said.
Citizens of other countries, including two Irish passengers, will be evacuated following the evacuation of Spanish nationals.
Spain's Health Minister Mónica Garcia confirmed passengers from the Netherlands would be next to disembark along with those from Germany, Belgium and Greece, who will travel on the Dutch aircraft.
Passengers from Ireland, Turkey, France, the UK and the US will follow, with flights to each country scheduled for later in the day.
The final flight is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, and will transport passengers from Australia, New Zealand and Asian countries.
The Irish Government jet will be sent to Spain this morning to take two Irish citizens on board the vessel at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak back to Ireland.
They will then be placed in an as yet unidentified HSE facility, where they will continue to be monitored for a number of weeks.
The cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak arrived early this morning near the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife where it will anchor during the evacuation of the passengers and some of the crew.
Llegada del MV #Hondius a las aguas territoriales españolas. Un buque de la #GuardiaCivil lo ha escoltado hasta el puerto de Granadilla, donde hay un preparado un dispositivo especial para recibir a los ocupantes del barco. pic.twitter.com/uW5QD3a28g
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) May 10, 2026
The passengers, none of whom has displayed signs of infection, were tested by Spanish health authorities to ensure they remained asymptomatic.
The first group of passengers were subsequently transported to land in small boats.
Sealed-off buses were organised to take the passengers to the Spanish island's main airport about 10 minutes away, where they will board planes heading to their respective countries.
All passengers on the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius are considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure, Europe's public health agency said yesterday as part of its rapid scientific advice.
The evacuation began after 7.30am this morning.
Thirty crew members will remain on board and sail to the Netherlands where the ship will be disinfected.
A report issued by Spain's Health Ministry before the MV Hondius docked in Tenerife confirmed the ship had cleared the appropriate health checks before laying anchor.
"According to the information provided by the experts who boarded the ship, the hygiene and environmental conditions are appropriate and they have not detected rodents so transmission by exposure to rodents on board is not likely," the report read.
The ship left for Spain on Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde after the World Health Organization and European Union asked the country to manage the evacuation of passengers after the hantavirus outbreak was detected.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived yesterday evening in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, alongside Spain's interior and health ministers and its minister for territorial policy, to coordinate the arrival of the ship.
The disembarkment of the first group of MV Hondius passengers has started. @WHO experts on the ground are working with the Spanish Health Ministry on the epidemiological assessment of the passengers and coordinating charter flights with the Interior Ministry. This collaboration… pic.twitter.com/Is0qFRer5k
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 10, 2026
The WHO said on Friday that eight people had fallen ill, including three who died - a Dutch couple and a German national.
Six of these people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another two suspected cases, the WHO has said.
Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person-to-person.
The WHO has said the risk to the wider global population is low, but the risk to passengers and crew on the ship is moderate.
