Ship tracker
MV Hondius live tracker
Current status, reported route, and outbreak timeline for the MV Hondius. This map shows the documented itinerary and latest reported destination; it is not live AIS data.
Positioned off Granadilla, Tenerife during the May 9 disembarkation window after leaving Cape Verde on May 6 (three medevacs to the Netherlands that day). Spain's plan remains anchored operations: assess passengers and crew on board, then move people only via controlled small-boat/air transfer for quarantine or repatriation, without routine contact between evacuees and the local public.
Sources refreshed .
Itinerary
OSM · grayscale- 01Ushuaia · ArgentinaArrival TBD · Dep Apr 1, 2026Departure port. Ship had been based here since November 16, 2025 conducting Antarctic voyages. Investigators are looking at potential ANDV exposure before boarding — the deceased Dutch couple had also travelled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay before embarking.
- 02South Georgia · British Overseas TerritoryArrival TBD
- 03South Sandwich Islands · British Overseas TerritoryArrival TBD
- 04Tristan da Cunha · British Overseas TerritoryArrival TBD
- 05Saint Helena · British Overseas TerritoryArr Apr 24, 2026Body of the first deceased Dutch passenger was disembarked here on April 24. His wife flew onward to South Africa.
- 06Ascension Island · British Overseas TerritoryArrival TBD · Dep Apr 27, 2026British male passenger medically evacuated to South Africa from here on April 27.
- 07Praia (anchored offshore) · Cape VerdeArr May 3, 2026 · Dep May 6, 2026Cape Verde declined to permit docking. On May 6, three patients were transferred by ambulance to Praia airport and airlifted to the Netherlands aboard two specialised medical aircraft.
- 08Granadilla, Tenerife anchorage · Spain — Canary IslandsArr May 9, 2026Operational window May 9 (local midday): anchor off Granadilla for the Spanish-led medical and repatriation plan — no normal berthing; transfers by launch to shore cordons/airport rotations per May 7–9 government briefings.
Outbreak snapshot
WHO (May 8, via Reuters and other wire reporting): six laboratory-confirmed cases linked to the cruise, with the publicly reported outbreak total still framed around eight cases under active investigation (two remaining suspected vs. the May 7 split of five confirmed / three suspected). Three deaths. By May 9 the vessel was in the Granadilla, Tenerife operational window for at-sea medical assessment and controlled repatriation without public contact ashore (Spanish briefing; ABC News live updates May 8).
WHO (May 8, via Reuters and other wire reporting): six laboratory-confirmed cases linked to the cruise, with the publicly reported outbreak total still framed around eight cases under active investigation (two remaining suspected vs. the May 7 split of five confirmed / three suspected). Three deaths. By May 9 the vessel was in the Granadilla, Tenerife operational window for at-sea medical assessment and controlled repatriation without public contact ashore (Spanish briefing; ABC News live updates May 8).
Route and outbreak timeline
- Advisory
Granadilla anchorage window — controlled disembarkation (May 9 local)
Spanish authorities and WHO leadership finalised an anchored operation off Granadilla rather than a normal cruise berth: medical teams board or meet launches, passengers and crew are triaged on board, then moved in closed loops toward airport rotations or Madrid military hospital care for Spanish nationals. Foreign governments and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism supply repatriation flights; the vessel is later sanitised before any return to service.
- ABC News — live updates (expected Granadilla arrival May 9) · abcnews.com
- Sur in English — Tenerife to receive 'Hantavirus ship' at secondary port · surinenglish.com
- Oceanwide Expeditions — press update 8 May 2026, 19:00 CET · oceanwide-expeditions.com
- Advisory
Spain says MV Hondius will not dock in Tenerife
Spanish health authorities and the Canary Islands government say the vessel is expected to anchor off Granadilla rather than berth at the port. Passengers are to be evaluated on board, then transferred or repatriated through a controlled operation without contact with the local public. El País reports an expected arrival in Tenerife waters on Sunday.
- El País live coverage — Tenerife anchorage plan · elpais.com
- Advisory
Madrid and Canary Islands clash over the ship's arrival
Spain's central government, which had agreed to receive the vessel, is publicly opposed by the Canary Islands regional government over the choice of port and the perceived public-health risk to Tenerife. Madrid confirms the plan to dock at Granadilla — a low-traffic secondary port near Tenerife South Airport — and to channel symptomatic and Spanish-national passengers to a military hospital in Madrid for quarantine. Foreign passengers will be repatriated through the EU civil-protection mechanism.
- Case update
WHO updates total to 8 cases — 5 confirmed, 3 suspected, 3 deaths
WHO's latest situational update raises confirmed laboratory-tested cases to five and revises suspected to three, for a total of eight cases linked to the cluster. The death toll remains at three. Remaining people on board are reported asymptomatic. The Andes virus (ANDV) attribution is reiterated, with limited person-to-person transmission noted as the operating assumption.
- Free Press Journal — WHO confirms 3 deaths, 8 hantavirus cases · freepressjournal.in
- ABC7 — Hantavirus cruise ship heads for Canary Islands · abc7news.com
- Case update
Andes virus (ANDV) confirmed; Swiss case identified
Reference laboratory confirms at least one case as Andes virus (ANDV) — a New World hantavirus that, unlike most strains, has a documented capacity for limited person-to-person transmission, especially among close contacts. A Swiss male passenger tests positive after returning home and is treated in a Zurich hospital. The British patient in South African ICU is reported to be improving.
- ECDC — Hantavirus-associated cluster on a cruise ship · ecdc.europa.eu
- France 24 — Hantavirus on the rise in Argentina · france24.com
- Official response
Three medical evacuees airlifted from Cape Verde to the Netherlands
Two specialised medical aircraft, deployed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with WHO and RIVM, evacuate three patients: a 56-year-old British national (former police officer Martin Anstee), a 41-year-old Dutch crew member, and a 65-year-old German national. An ambulance moves them from the ship's anchorage to Praia airport. Two are reported in serious condition, one stable.
- Official response
Spain agrees to receive ship at Canary Islands
Spain agrees to receive the MV Hondius at the Canary Islands within three to four days for full epidemiological investigation and disinfection. Plans are made to evacuate two seriously ill crew members to the Netherlands before the ship sails north. Passengers are required to isolate in their cabins with strict hygiene measures.
- Official response
WHO confirms outbreak; Cape Verde refuses dock
WHO confirms seven hantavirus cases — two laboratory-confirmed and five suspected — including three deaths. The MV Hondius reaches Cape Verde waters and anchors off Praia, but Cape Verde authorities decline to permit docking on public-health grounds. They send a medical team to the ship instead.