en.Wedoany.com Reported - Dutch health authorities and the operator of the expedition cruise ship "Hondius" have confirmed that the vessel will resume operations on June 13, as scheduled, to begin the Arctic expedition season, following a deep cleaning and disinfection process. The ship experienced a hantavirus outbreak between late April and early May.
In a statement on May 30, the Rotterdam Municipal Health Service (GGD) stated that from a public health perspective, there are no longer any obstacles to the "Hondius" entering service. Experts from GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond confirmed that the ship has been effectively cleaned and disinfection work is complete. The vessel underwent a second inspection on May 29; during a previous inspection, the GGD had recommended additional cleaning steps.
According to the operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, the cleaning process involved close coordination among multiple parties, with the actual work carried out by 13 biosafety experts provided by the EWS Group. The team inspected the ship and systematically treated all eight decks over several days: all hard surfaces were deep-disinfected using registered products and hydrogen peroxide, while all soft surfaces underwent high-temperature steam cleaning. The company emphasized information from organizations such as the World Health Organization, suggesting that the virus was brought on board by passengers infected during travel in South America; to support this view, the company noted that the ship had been declared rodent-free by qualified third-party professionals.
All crew members who remained on board disembarked on May 23 and are currently in quarantine, with crew handovers underway. Passengers from the voyage are also in quarantine in multiple countries, currently about halfway through their isolation period, with only one additional case reported so far, in Spain. According to the WHO, as of May 21, a total of 13 cases had been reported, including the three initial deaths reported on board.
The expedition cruise ship remains docked in Rotterdam, currently undergoing resupply and preparations for resuming operations, while also conducting annual inspections and planned maintenance. The "Hondius" is scheduled to depart from Rotterdam on June 6, heading to the Svalbard region, and will resume operations by starting Arctic cruises from Longyearbyen on June 13.
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