STORY: Hantavirus-hit cruise ship's captain thanked crew and guests of MV Hondius for their 'patience and discipline' following the outbreak of the virus in the Dutch vessel.

Captain Jan Dobrogowski said the past few weeks have been "extremely challenging" and praised his crew for their "courage" and "selfless resolve" they showed in the "most difficult moments".

The MV Hondius was carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses among passengers was first reported to the WHO on May 3.

The outbreak of the Hantavirus, usually spread by wild rodents but also transmittable person-to-person in rare cases of close contact, was first detected by health officials in Johannesburg on May 2 treating a British man who was taken into intensive care after disembarking the ship. That was some three weeks after the first passenger, a Dutchman, had died.

The luxury cruise ship is now anchored near Spain's Atlantic island of Tenerife, according to Spanish authorities coordinating the evacuations. The last 24 passengers still on board the MV Hondius are set to be evacuated on Monday afternoon.

The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine for all passengers from the boat from May 10, its director of epidemic and pandemic management, Maria Van Kerkhove, told a briefing.

Health officials have urged calm, reminding a public scarred from the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic that this virus is far less contagious and poses little risk to the general population.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Hantavirus-hit cruise ship's captain praises crew and 'patience and discipline' of guests

VIDEO SHOWS: CAPTAIN OF HANTAVIRUS-HIT CRUISE SHIP MV HONDIUS GIVING STATEMENT

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: UNKNOWN (RELEASED MAY 11, 2026) (OCEANWIDE EXPEDITIONS - No Resales / No Archive / Must on-screen courtesy Oceanwide Expeditions)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CAPTAIN OF HANTAVIRUS-HIT CRUISE SHIP MV HONDIUS, JAN DOBROGOWSKI, SAYING:

"Dear guests, dear crew, dear family members back at home, and everybody following this situation. My name is Jan Dobrogowski, and I'm the captain of the Polar Expedition vessel Hondius. I have decided to take this time to thank every single guest and crew member on board here, as well as our colleagues back home.

The past few weeks have been extremely challenging to us all, as I'm sure you know.

What touched me the most, what moved me the most was your patience, your discipline and also kindness. Kindness that you showed to each other throughout, see people depend on each other. There is no readily available rescue services standing by to come to your help. An emergency. So perseverance is sort of, uh an expected quality perhaps, but I've seen, I've witnessed way more, way more this time around. I've witnessed your caring, your unity and quiet strength amongst everybody on board, guests and crew alike. And I must commend my crew for the courage and the selfless resolve that they showed time and again in the most difficult moments. I could not imagine sailing through these circumstances with a better group of people, guests and crew alike. Most importantly, our thoughts are with the ones that are no longer with us, and whatever I say will not ease this loss. I'd like you to know that they are with us every day in our hearts and our thoughts.

In a situation like this, every image and every words can be taken out of context. This can be very painful to the people on board, especially already dealing with grief, worry and perhaps uncertainty.

As a captain of Hondius, my job is to lead my crew, take care of my guests and see the ship safely to port. And our responsibility does not end there, does not end with our arrival in the Canaries.

So we've all been a part of this voyage and I wish nothing more to everybody, guests and crew alike to be able to go home safely and in good health.

On behalf of Oceanwide Expeditions, my crew, myself, I ask for privacy and respect to our guests and their families and our crew members in this difficult time. We've sailed through this together across the sea now we hope to see everybody safely at home. Thank you very much."