Two Indian crew members are among the 149 people aboard the MV Hondius, a Dutch luxury expedition vessel stranded in the Atlantic Ocean following a deadly outbreak of hantavirus that has killed three passengers and infected at least eight people. The World Health Organisation has confirmed five cases of the virus on the ship while maintaining that the overall public health risk to the general population remains low.
The ship, operated by Dutch polar travel company Oceanwide Expeditions, departed the southern tip of Argentina on April 1 with 149 passengers and crew from 23 nationalities. India Today TV obtained a nationality-wise breakdown from the company confirming two Indian nationals among the crew. Their roles on the ship, their current health status, and whether either has had contact with infected passengers have not been disclosed.
How did hantavirus reach the MV Hondius?
Argentine investigators believe the outbreak traces back to a birdwatching excursion in Ushuaia, the southernmost city on Earth, where a Dutch couple likely inhaled microscopic particles from infected rodent droppings. The couple had no symptoms when they boarded the ship.
The first passenger died on April 11, with the cause of death unable to be determined on board. His body was disembarked at St Helena on April 24, with his wife accompanying the repatriation — she later fell ill during the return journey and died as well. Both were Dutch nationals. On April 27, a third passenger fell critically ill and was medically evacuated to Johannesburg, where they are being treated in intensive care in a critical but stable condition, with a variant of hantavirus confirmed in this patient. A German national died on board on May 2, by which point the WHO had been alerted and the ship was ordered to halt at Cape Verde.
Where is the MV Hondius now?
The ship has since left Cape Verde and is heading to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where remaining passengers are expected to disembark on May 11. Three critically ill patients have been evacuated by air ambulance. Health authorities across Europe are racing to trace over 80 passengers who shared a commercial flight with one of the victims before she had been diagnosed.
What is the hantavirus Andes strain and how does it spread?
The strain identified on the MV Hondius is the Andes strain, one of the few hantavirus variants known to be capable of human-to-human transmission. Critically, transmission requires very close physical contact — sharing a cabin, a bunk, or providing unprotected medical care — and does not spread through the air in ordinary social settings. Of the 149 people on board who lived together for weeks, only eight fell ill, which WHO officials say underscores the limited transmission risk.
WHO Director Maria Van Kerkhove clarified that close contact in this context means sharing sleeping quarters or providing medical care without protection. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed on May 6 that the public health risk remains low, a position he reiterated on May 7. However, he flagged a critical caveat: hantavirus has an incubation period of up to six weeks, meaning additional cases could emerge well after the ship has docked and passengers have dispersed to their home countries.
This is a developing story. Business Upturn will update this report as new information becomes available.