An American travel blogger has revealed the incredible stops he made on a dream cruise before passengers were struck down by a virus that has killed three.
Dutch-flagged ship MV Hondius set sail from Ushuaia in southern Argentina on March 20 on a 46-day voyage to visit some of the most remote islands on Earth, but it is now stranded off the west coast of Africa as hantavirus cases mount.
Onboard is travel blogger Jake Rosmarin, who has borne witness to the horrors that have befallen the stricken ship as the outbreak rips through it and leaves those onboard in purgatory.
Some 149 passengers are stranded at sea, while the World Health Organization says that it has confirmed two cases with five more suspected. One person is critically unwell, and three more have mild symptoms.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.
“I’m just so so excited,” a jubilant Rosmarin told his 44,000 followers the day before he set off on the adventure of a lifetime. “I’m excited for all of you to come along on this journey with me, so stay tuned as I embark on the most epic adventure yet.”
The ship’s first stop was the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia, an island famed for its penguins that sits around 870 miles to the east of the Falkland Islands.
“My favorite place in the world,” Rosmarin buzzed on his March 31 video.
From there, they headed to the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha, part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, before heading on to Saint Helena, also in the same territory.
From there they were, “Passing Ascension, and then up to Cape Verde, an island nation on the west coast of Africa.”
“So I am super, super excited. But the craziest part of it all is I am visiting the most remote inhabited island on earth,” Rosmarin continued. “Yes, you heard that right, the most remote inhabited island on earth, that is Tristan da Cunha, which is basically smack in the middle in the Atlantic Ocean, between Cape Town and Buenos Aires.
“And it is so far from other landmasses that are populated… in the case that the International Space Station is passing over me while we’re at Tristan da Cunha, they will be the closest people to us in that moment.”
Things started out well. Earlier videos showed Rosmarin excitedly welcoming his followers to the places he visited.
“I’m here at the bottom of the world, on an island paradise with the largest marine wildlife concentration in the world. Welcome to South Georgia,” he said joyfully.
The good vibes continued, with videos of killer whales, sea lions, rare birds, and their arrival at “the most remote island in the world,” Tristan da Cunha.
There were also moments of wonder in the 40-plus videos that ensued, from rolling waves smashing over the bow of the boat to a towering island casting shadows onto the clouds below.
Then on Monday, the day the ship was supposed to arrive in Cape Verde, it all came crashing down. Rosmarin put out a statement confirming that he was on board the stricken ship.
“I normally wouldn’t make a video like this,” he said, fighting back tears, “but I feel like I need to say something, so I’ve wrote a few things down. I am currently onboard the MV Hondius.”
He then made a plea for kindness after it emerged that two sick crew members, one British and one Dutch, had been refused leave to go on shore.
“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.”
He asked for “kindness and understanding,” adding, “There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that’s the hardest part. All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity, and to get home. So if you’re seeing coverage about this, just remember that there are real people behind it, and that this isn’t something happening far away.”
Dutch authorities are scrambling to airlift the two ill crew members, as well as the body of the passenger, back to the Netherlands.
Hantavirus reaches humans via infected rodents’ droppings, urine, or saliva, and affects the lungs. Sicknesses struck the ship between April 6 and April 28, as some passengers endured fever, gastrointestinal distress, and some went into shock, suffering from respiratory failure and pneumonia.
“We do know that some of the cases had very close contact with each other and certainly human-to-human transmission can’t be ruled out so as a precaution this is what we are assuming,” Dr. Maria Van Kerhove, WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said.
A 70-year-old Dutch man died on April 11, and was the first person to break out with symptoms.
His 69-year-old wife disembarked the ship with his body at Saint Helena, but also died in a Johannesburg hospital weeks later, and was posthumously confirmed to have had hantavirus.
AFP news agency reported that a German national is still on the ship, deceased.
The British government confirmed that two British nationals on board have become sick.
Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed to the Daily Beast in a statement on Monday that 149 people were on board, spanning 23 nationalities, with 17 Americans.
It told the Daily Mail in a statement on Sunday that “no authorization” had been granted to take sick passengers ashore.
