With a series of four honks, the cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak departed the Canary Islands on Monday evening.
The ship, the MV Hondius, left the port of Granadilla de Abona in Tenerife, the largest of the islands, nearly two full days after its arrival.
The interval allowed the cruise’s 150 passengers to be tested and to disembark. The passengers and some crew members are either on their way home, or have already arrived.
Three people have died in the nearly six weeks since the ship left Argentina for an itinerary to remote islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean. At least seven other people who were on the ship have fallen ill or tested positive, health officials said.
Hantavirus is a rare family of pathogens carried by rodents.
Global health officials are taking steps to stop the virus from spreading. National health officials will monitor people who were aboard for signs of disease over the next few weeks. Countries are also working to trace people who may have been exposed to it.
Most of the evacuations were completed on Sunday. The last plane carrying passengers to their home countries was scheduled to depart on Monday, said Mónica García, Spain’s health minister. It will take the 22 remaining passengers and crew members, while 32 will stay on board, she said.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the cruise operator, said on Sunday that once all guests and some of the crew had left, the ship was to “take on necessary supplies” before heading to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
That trip was expected to take around five days. The ship will be disinfected there, according to Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
Carlos Barragán contributed reporting.
Adeel Hassan, a New York-based reporter for The Times, covers breaking news and other topics.
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