A seriously ill British crew member is still trapped on the MV Hondius cruise ship following a suspected outbreak of the deadly hantavirus infection.

Three people have died so far from the rare rat-borne virus on the Dutch-flagged vessel, which set off in March to sail from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.

The luxury ship has been stranded at the Port of Praia after health authorities in Cape Verde said they would not authorise its docking ‘with the aim of protecting national public health’.

In its latest update on the crisis, cruise firm Oceanwide Expeditions said on Monday that two crew members – one British and the other Dutch – were continuing to show ‘acute respiratory symptoms’, one mild and one severe, and required urgent medical care.

The infected British crew member is the ship’s doctor, according to passenger Ann Lane from Donnybrook, south Dublin.

‘Now the ship’s doctor and a member of the expedition staff are sick on board. The doctor had been treating everybody day and night, really dedicated to what he was doing – [he has been] fabulous,’ she told the Irish Times.

‘He’s a younger man, British. He has been sick quite a few days, maybe since last Thursday.’

Medics are scrambling to evacuate the sick passengers with two specialised aircraft, but an ‘accurate timeline of this complex operation is currently unknown’ and the mission is still ‘not confirmed and is subject to change’.

Supplies being loaded onto the MV Hondius, stranded at the Port of Praia
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Supplies being loaded onto the MV Hondius, stranded at the Port of Praia

Three people have died so far from the rare rat-borne virus on the Dutch-flagged vessel, which set off in March to sail from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde
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View gallery

Three people have died so far from the rare rat-borne virus on the Dutch-flagged vessel, which set off in March to sail from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde

A seriously ill British crew member is still trapped on the MV Hondius cruise ship following a suspected outbreak of the deadly hantavirus infection
+10
View gallery

A seriously ill British crew member is still trapped on the MV Hondius cruise ship following a suspected outbreak of the deadly hantavirus infection

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Meanwhile, ‘a definitive disembarkation point for the remaining guests on board has not been finalised’, the statement said, leaving 149 people from 23 countries anxiously waiting to learn their fate.

Sailing on to Las Palmas or Tenerife is being considered, where medical screening supervised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Dutch health services will take place, but no definitive evacuation plan has been confirmed.

On Monday, the WHO said it had identified seven cases of hantavirus on the vessel, including three people who had died, one who ​was critically ill and three with mild symptoms.

The first stricken passenger, a 70-year-old Dutch man, died on April 11 as the ship steamed towards Tristan da Cunha.

His body remained on board until April 24, when it ‘was disembarked on St Helena, with his wife accompanying the repatriation,’ Oceanwide Expeditions said.

Three days later, the man’s 69-year-old wife also fell sick and ​later died, while another passenger, ​a Briton, became ‘seriously ill ⁠and was medically evacuated to South Africa,’ the company said.

South African authorities have confirmed that the 69-year-old British patient, who is being treated in a Johannesburg hospital, tested ​positive for the hantavirus.

On May 2, another passenger of German nationality died on board the ship.

The WHO said: ‘As of 4 May 2026, seven cases (two laboratory confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases) have been identified, including three deaths, one critically ill patient and three individuals reporting mild symptoms.’

On Tuesday, US travel blogger Jake Rosmarin, a passenger on the ship, released a tearful update from his bedroom, telling his 44 thousand followers in a video on Instagram: ‘I am currently on board the MV Hondius, and what’s happening right now is very real for all of us here.

‘We’re not just a story, we’re not just headlines, we’re people. People with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home.’

Overwhelmed with emotion and fear, the content creator from Boston continued: ‘There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that’s the hardest part.