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Marrakech – An air ambulance evacuating two suspected hantavirus patients from the stricken cruise ship MV Hondius was reportedly forced to divert to Gran Canaria after Morocco denied it entry into its airspace.
According to Spanish news agency EFE, the medicalized aircraft had departed Cape Verde’s Praia International Airport at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, carrying two patients bound for Amsterdam. The flight had planned a refueling stop in Marrakech around 4:00 p.m. before continuing to the Netherlands.
But a malfunction in the aircraft’s isolation bubble complicated the situation. The crew needed to land and repair the equipment. Rabat refused to allow the plane into Moroccan territory, forcing a reroute to Gran Canaria shortly before 4:00 p.m.
Spain’s government delegation in the Canary Islands initially attributed the unscheduled stop to a simple refueling need. It later clarified that the real reason was the broken isolation bubble. The delegation said authorities imposed a strict condition for landing: no one could board or exit the aircraft. It confirmed the requirement was respected.
The plane had originally been scheduled to depart Gran Canaria at 5:40 p.m. and reach Amsterdam by 5:00 p.m. Dutch time. However, EFE confirmed the aircraft remained on the ground at 6:15 p.m. local time.
Flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed the route had been updated again, adding a new stop in Malaga before continuing to the Netherlands. The government delegation had not confirmed that change.
Moroccan authorities have not issued any official statement regarding the decision to deny entry to the air ambulance.
The disease is rare but can be severe and deadly
The diversion came amid growing international tension over the fate of the MV Hondius. The MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged expedition vessel owned by Oceanwide Expeditions, departed Argentina on April 1 and sailed through Antarctica and the South Atlantic before a hantavirus outbreak was identified onboard.
Carrying 146 people, the ship has been anchored off Praia, Cape Verde, after three passengers died, and at least seven cases were recorded. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on May 6 that the strain involved is the rare Andes variant, capable of limited human-to-human transmission through close contact.
Hantavirus is a group of viruses primarily transmitted to humans through contact with the urine, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents.
Symptoms typically appear between one and eight weeks after exposure and include fever, headache, muscle aches, and gastrointestinal problems such as nausea and vomiting. The disease is rare but can be severe and deadly, particularly when it progresses to acute respiratory distress.
Spain agreed to a WHO request to receive the ship at the port of Granadilla de Abona in Tenerife, where it is expected to arrive within three days. But Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo publicly opposed the decision and requested an urgent meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Spain plans to repatriate foreign passengers from Tenerife’s southern airport, while 14 Spanish nationals aboard will be transferred to Madrid for quarantine at the Gómez Ulla Military Hospital.
