Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship expected to arrive in the Netherlands

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is scheduled to arrive in the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands on Monday morning.

The MV Hondius has spent the past six days sailing from the Canary Islands, where the remaining passengers were escorted off the vessel by personnel in full-body protective gear and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine.

The outbreak on the ship has reached 11 cases, nine of which have been confirmed, according to the World Health Organization. Three passengers have died, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

The vessel has made the journey from Tenerife up the coast of Africa and Europe with 25 crew members and two medical personnel. According to the ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions, no one on board is experiencing any symptoms.

Crew members who are unable to return home will be quarantined in the Netherlands, the Dutch health ministry said last week. Some two dozen passengers and crew are already in quarantine in the Netherlands, after arriving in the country on a series of flights over the previous two weeks.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said Sunday that one of the four Canadians in isolation after leaving the ship had tested positive. The case was not yet reflected in the WHO data.

Eighteen Americans are currently under observation at specialized healthcare facilities in the United States designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the public health officer for the province of British Columbia, said Saturday the person had received a “presumptive positive” but further testing would be conducted at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

After everyone on board has disembarked, the ship will be decontaminated based on Dutch public health guidelines. “Personal protective measures are being taken to ensure that the cleaners do not need to quarantine after the cleaning,” the health ministry said in a letter to the Dutch parliament last week.

Public health officials will inspect the vessel before it is allowed to sail again. The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship.

The Dutch company that owns the cruise ship said it doesn’t foresee any changes to its operations. It has an Arctic cruise setting sail from Keflavik, Iceland, on May 29.

France’s Pasteur Institute said on Saturday it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship and found that it matched viruses already known in South America, with no evidence so far of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.

The MV Hondius cruise ship arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

The MV Hondius cruise ship arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

The MV Hondius cruise ship arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

The MV Hondius cruise ship is escorted into the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

The MV Hondius cruise ship arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

The MV Hondius cruise ship arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

The MV Hondius cruise ship arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

The MV Hondius cruise ship, left, arrives just outside the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

The MV Hondius cruise ship, right, arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

FILE - The MV Hondius cruise ship is anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Arilson Almeida, File)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine Senate convened an impeachment court Monday for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte over criminal charges, in a time of deep divisions that erupted into an exchange of gunfire last week in the chamber.

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to impeach Duterte last Monday over alleged unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and a public threat to have the president assassinated if she herself were killed due to their political disputes.

The vice president, who has announced her plan to seek the presidency in 2028, has denied the charges but has refused to answer the allegations in detail.

Her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, has been detained by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity. The charges stem from anti-drugs crackdowns he ordered while in power that killed thousands of mostly petty suspects.

Ahead of the impeachment trial, 13 of 24 senators led by allies of the Dutertes suddenly wrested the presidency of the Senate last Monday, leaving the outcome of the trial in question.

The vice president has blamed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., her former ally and running mate in the 2022 election, for “kidnapping” her ailing father, referring to his arrest and transfer to the international court in The Hague last March.

The escalating disputes between the country’s two top leaders reflect the deep divisions that have long plagued the rambunctious Asian democracy.

One of the senators, Ronald dela Rosa, served as Rodrigo Duterte’s national police chief and enforced his bloody crackdowns on illegal drugs. The ICC has named dela Rosa as a co-conspirator and unsealed a warrant for his arrest last Monday.

That same day, Dela Rosa, who was absent from the Senate for months for fear of arrest, suddenly showed up in the chamber to enable Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, a key ally of the Dutertes, to gain a slim majority and capture the Senate presidency.

Dela Rosa told reporters he came out of hiding and went to the Senate using Cayetano’s van but was nearly arrested by National Bureau of Investigation agents. He dashed into a stairway and ran to the Senate plenary hall, where Cayetano and other allies placed him under the chamber’s “protective custody.”

A tense standoff between the Senate’s security personnel and government agents positioned in an adjacent government building escalated into an exchange of fire Wednesday night with the Senate personnel firing what their chief, Mao Aplasca, said were warning shots. Marcos appealed to the public to remain calm in a late-night call on national TV.

Cayetano later said that dela Rosa had disappeared from the Senate. Authorities said they were investigating the possibility that the exchange of fire may have been instigated to enable dela Rosa's escape.

Police personnel stand behind their shields outside the Senate of the Philippines, in Manila, Thursday May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)