A sign that reads "No entry. Bio hazard zone" near the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, after it arrived at the Port of Rotterdam, where Dutch authorities are preparing quarantine arrangements, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, May 18. Reuters-Yonhap
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — The cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak has docked at the Dutch port of Rotterdam for disinfection, wrapping up a troubled journey that put international health authorities on alert.
The MV Hondius was still carrying 25 crew members and two medical personnel as it reached Europe's largest port on Monday morning, after its passengers disembarked on the Spanish island of Tenerife last week.
An Associated Press journalist saw people board the boat via pier wearing white hazardous materials suits. A short distance from where the ship docked, authorities had set up white containers along the water in between a line of windmills.
The crew will now go into quarantine, with those who cannot be immediately repatriated spending their time in quarantine in these containers.
“Luckily so far the crew has suffered no symptoms,” Yvonne van Duijnhoven, the director of public health in Rotterdam told The Associated Press. Crew members will be tested upon arrival and then weekly for the duration of their quarantine.
After everyone on board has disembarked, the ship will be decontaminated based on Dutch public health guidelines, a process that will take about three days, according to van Duijnhoven.
She stressed that the risk to the public is very low. “We have very strict protocols to prevent virus going from the ship towards the outside world,” she said. Public health officials will inspect the vessel before it is allowed to sail again.
The Dutch company that owns the ship said it doesn’t foresee any changes to its operations. It has an Arctic cruise setting sail from Keflavik, Iceland, on May 29. The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship.
The port was asked by Dutch authorities last week if they could take in the vessel. "I think it’s unacceptable to say no, you’re not welcome in the biggest port of Europe,” the port’s harbormaster, René de Vries, told AP.
Source: Korea Times News
