Hantavirus cruise ship replace as helicopter hits issues carrying MV Hondius passenger

Spain’s Health Ministry confirmed a new aircraft had flown a sick MV Hondius passenger to Amsterdam after news of an unexpected stopover and postponement surfaced

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An air ambulance believed to be transporting one of the three people evacuated from the virus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius departed Gran Canaria early this morning following an unexpected stopover on the holiday island.

The Learjet 45 was supposed to have reached the Netherlands yesterday, but overnight complications initially triggered by Morocco’s decision to deny it refuelling in Marrakech resulted in its arrival being postponed. A local television station reported this morning that it had finally departed Gando Air Base on Gran Canaria’s eastern coastline around 5am and was expected to land in Holland around 9am local time.

A contradictory account in Spanish newspaper ABC claimed early this morning that the aircraft which left the island wasn’t the same one compelled to make an emergency landing, maintaining that two individuals removed from MV Hondius were aboard.

It stated that a substitute plane was flown in from the Norwegian capital Oslo after a further technical problem was discovered and was scheduled to refuel in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia rather than Malaga as initially planned before proceeding to Amsterdam.

Spain’s Health Ministry eventually resolved the confusion surrounding the transfer just before 9am local time today, confirming in a statement that a fresh air ambulance had been deployed but emphasising that only one unwell passenger taken from MV Hondius was onboard.

News of the unexpected stopover and postponement surfaced after the Canary Islands regional government condemned Madrid for its “lack of information” and choice to permit the cruise ship to dock in Tenerife.

Spanish Health Ministry sources revealed that while the aircraft initially landed at Gando for refuelling, a subsequent issue with an isolation bubble on board was discovered which prevented it from departing as planned just after 5pm yesterday afternoon.

The grounded plane remained on the tarmac overnight.

After hours of bewilderment and contradictory accounts about the situation, Spain’s Health Ministry announced this morning in social media posts: “Finally, the person with symptoms who had been on a plane in Gran Canaria since yesterday has been transferred to Amsterdam on a new medicalized aircraft different from the one that was initially in Gran Canaria.

“The aircraft that remained in Gran Canaria later departed without passengers or patients on board, carrying only the crew, making a technical stop in Valencia to refuel before continuing on to Rotterdam.

“At all times, the operation is being carried out in accordance with the established health and safety protocols, in coordination with the competent authorities and the company responsible for the transfer.”

It remained unclear who was aboard the fresh air ambulance, though it’s not believed to be British wildlife photographer Martin Anstee, 56.

A Dutch medic aged 41 and a German aged 65 were also removed from the vessel off Cape Verde so they could be transported to the Netherlands, with Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia adding to the bewilderment surrounding the operation yesterday by describing the doctor at a press con ference as “British.”

The confusion started to clear overnight when Mr Anstee, now a wildlife photographer, spoke to Sky News from his hospital bed to confirm he was doing well, saying: “I’m not feeling too bad. There are still lots of tests to be done. I have no idea how long I’ll be in the hospital for. I’m in isolation at the moment.”

The cruise ship carrying approximately 20 Britons is due to dock at the southern Tenerife port on Saturday following Spain’s agreement to accept the vessel — a decision that has infuriated regional Canary Island authorities.

Spain’s Health Minister has confirmed that foreign passengers aboard will be sent back to their respective countries upon arrival.

However, while she stated yesterday that the 14 Spanish nationals and one Spanish crew member would be transported to a military hospital in Madrid for quarantine as long as required, Health Minister Margarita Robles has added to the confusion that critics have highlighted by revealing overnight that the hospital isolation would be optional.

She explained they could choose to self-isolate at home after completing consent documentation.

At yesterday’s press conference, a day after Spain opted to accept the cruise ship rather than Cape Verde, Health Minister Mrs Garcia stated: “All the passengers and crew that remain on the ship at present are asymptomatic.

“Once the evacuation of those with symptoms in Cape Verde has concluded, the ship will continue to the Canary Islands where it is expected to arrive in around three days. The ship is set to dock at the secondary Tenerife port of Granadilla de Abona. It’s a port with very little activity, a secondary port, which is 10 minutes away from Tenerife South Airport.

“Once it’s arrived, a joint operation of medical evaluation will be launched along with an evacuation operation for all the foreign passengers via a European Civil Protection mechanism unless their medical condition renders this impossible,” she explained. She further added that measures would be put in place to prevent any interaction between those on board the ship and the local population.

So far, three individuals who were aboard MV Hondius have tragically lost their lives: a Dutch man aged 69, his wife, and a German national who passed away on May 2. Approximately 150 people from 23 different countries remain on the ship, which departed from the southern Argentinian city of Ushuaia on April 1.

Argentinian officials, speaking anonymously, have suggested that the hantavirus — a rat-borne disease blamed for the three fatalities — may have been brought onto the ship by a couple who enjoy birdwatching. The Dutch pair are believed to have visited a rubbish dump to take photographs in Ushuaia prior to boarding the cruise liner and are feared to have come into contact with air contaminated with viral particles from rodent faeces or urine.

The World Health Organisation has reported eight cases of hantavirus linked to the liner, five of which have been confirmed.