Spain has begun the evacuation process of passengers from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship anchored near Tenerife on Sunday, with health officials boarding the boat to conduct a final check and begin disembarking passengers, Spain’s Health Ministry said.

Spanish nationals will be the first to disembark on small boats in groups of five and taken to shore where they will be transferred onto buses and taken to the local airport.

The passengers will board a flight back to Madrid on a Spanish military plane, government officials said, emphasising that they will have no contact with members of the public.

The ship left for Spain on Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde after the World Health Organization and European Union asked the country to manage the evacuation of passengers after the hantavirus outbreak was detected.

All passengers on the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius are considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure, Europe’s public health agency said late on Saturday as part of its rapid scientific advice, adding that the risk to the general population remains low.

SHIP CLEARS HEALTH CHECKS

A report issued by Spain’s Health Ministry before the MV Hondius docked in Tenerife confirmed the ship had cleared the appropriate health checks before laying anchor.

“According to the information provided by the experts who boarded the ship, the hygiene and environmental conditions are appropriate and they have not detected rodents so transmission by exposure to rodents on board is not likely,” the report read.

Countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the US, UK and the Netherlands confirmed on Saturday they had sent planes to evacuate their citizens aboard, though local government officials in the Canaries said not all planes had arrived by Sunday morning.

Passengers will not leave the boat until their allocated evacuation plane has arrived, Spanish officials said.

Passengers from the Netherlands will be the next group to leave the vessel, and their plane will also transport passengers from Germany, Belgium and Greece, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said on Sunday.

After that, passengers from Turkey, France, the UK and US will be evacuated, the minister added, speaking to reporters at the port of Tenerife.

“The final flight of the operation is departing from Australia… It is the most complex flight and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow afternoon,” Garcia said, adding that the final flight would pick up six people from Australia, New Zealand and other Asian countries.

Thirty crew members will remain on board and sail to the Netherlands where the ship will be disinfected.