Operator of hantavirus-hit ship is awaiting more information before deciding on vessel's cruises

The company that operates the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak told The Associated Press Wednesday that it expects to know by the end of the week if the vessel will keep to its cruising schedule for the rest of the summer, as it previously indicated it would.

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is listed on Oceanwide Expeditions' website as scheduled to depart on a cruise later in May that would take it to the Arctic for a series of cruises throughout the summer.

Three cruise ship passengers have died, including a Dutch couple whom health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America. In all, there have been 11 cases reported in the outbreak, nine of which have been confirmed.

On Monday, after the ship reached Spain's Canary Islands where all remaining passengers were taken off, Oceanwide Expeditions said that it did not “foresee changes to our operations” — which included a new cruise beginning May 29.

But on Wednesday the company said it expects “clarity on whether the vessel will sail and the sailing schedule by the end of this week.”

More than 120 people on board during the outbreak — all passengers and some crew — disembarked on Sunday and Monday and are now quarantined in several countries. The ship then set sail for Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where it is expected to arrive on May 17 or 18, Oceanwide Expeditions says.

Twenty-five crew members, two health workers and the body of one of the passengers who died are still on board. None are showing any symptoms, the company has said.

Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people, though the Andes virus detected on the Hondius may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

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Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece, and Shastri reported from Milwaukee.