The “Hondius” as a floating quarantine: the sea as an observatory of epidemic spread

Source: French to English Tester   Published on: 2026-05-05

Source: The Conversation – in French– By François Drémeaux, Lecturer-researcher in contemporary history, University of Angers

The ongoing incident aboard the MVHondius, this cruise ship confronted with a suspected outbreak of hantavirus infection and turned away by the Cape Verde authorities, highlights both the difficulty and the importance of managing health crises at sea. A historical perspective shows that current developments repeat old patterns.

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Three dead, five suspected cases, passengers confined at sea, and a country that refuses access to its port: the episode revives recent images and others more distant anchored in the collective imagination, those of ships quarantined offshore, loaded with invisible threats.

In Marseille in 1720, theplague arrives by theGrand Saint-Antoine, returning from the Middle East, and decimates the city in the following months, notably after long hesitations regarding the sanitary measures to be implemented. More recently, in 2020, theDiamond Princess, immobilized off the coast of Japan with its 3,600 passengersat the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, had illustrated the vulnerability of modern ships to infectious diseases. TheHondiusis part of this series of events where the sea becomes a space of isolation as much as of crisis.

While epidemics can nowto be transmitted rapidly through air transport, such an incident at sea gives the impression of being able to stop time and control the situation. For epidemiologists, these are textbook cases that allow the disease to be studied in slow motion; for historians, it is also an opportunity to observe the effectiveness of ancient practices. Because, at sea, the management of epidemics follows specific logics.

Until the beginning of the 20th^eIn the century, the long crossings of ocean liners were potential incubators for infectious diseases. Cholera, typhoid, or various fevers could break out during the voyage, and health organization was planned accordingly. Depending on the country, embarked doctors gradually became mandatory from the 1850s, onboard isolation protocols were implemented, and above all, ports enhanced strict health surveillance systems.The protocols established at Ellis IslandFrom 1892 to control European migrants who land in the United States, they proceed according to this logic.

Maritime health and the Western empires

Along the maritime routes that form the backbones of globalization in the 19th century, first in the Mediterranean and then throughout imperial expansions, Europeans organized a complex health surveillance system. Both to protect themselves from their neighbors, to assert their dominance over certain countries—especially colonized ones—but also to ensure the smooth circulation of goods and passengers among them, maritime health became an imperial issue. Approaching the coasts, so-called examining doctors boarded the ships to assess the sanitary condition of the vessel.

In case of suspicion, the vessel was denied the license that allowed it to freely conduct its trade, and the passengers were directed to a lazaretto, a quarantine place often located away from cities. These facilities formed an essential network of international health security. They gradually disappeared after the Second World War, under the combined effect of medical advances and the shift to air transport, which was much faster.

This change in temporality has profoundly altered the dynamics of epidemics. The incubation periods of diseases have not changed, but the durations of travel have drastically shortened, including on cruise ships whose goal is often to multiply land stops (aa little more than seven days on average). The so-called exploration cruises in remote areas anda fortiorithe so-called repositioning circuits from one hemisphere to the other – like the one performed by theHondiusuntil now – represent precisely exceptions by the multiplication of the number of days at sea, in the present case between Ushuaia (Argentina) and Praia (Cape Verde) and despite stopovers in the South Georgia Islands and Saint Helena.

As a result, infections nowadays tend to occur more often after landing than in the open sea. The case ofHondius, which here proposed a forty-six-day journey, thus appears as a resurgence of an old pattern where the illness breaks out on board and requires a closed-system management.

Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic

It seems obvious that lessons have been learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. During the quarantineofDiamond Princessin Japan in 2020, the lack of clarity in the information given to passengers and the training of personnel have been widely highlighted as aggravating factors. The cruise sector, which has been expanding rapidly in recent years and representing a market of 37 million individuals in 2025, has apparently evolved on the subject since the personnel arehitherto trained and strict protocols are in place on board.

Paradoxically, with current means of communication, the closed-door ofHondiusquickly became a global event. Our contemporary societies, traumatized by the Covid-19 pandemic, have regained precautionary isolationist reflexes. Just a few miles from the port of Praia in Cape Verde, theHondiuswas denied access to the territory although a passenger had already died in Saint Helena and two others had been evacuated to South Africa.The Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Europe, Hans Klugejudged that “the risk for the general public remains low. There is no reason to give in to panic or to impose travel restrictions.” However, the media coverage that the event has garnered since the beginning of the crisis says a lot about fears of spread.

During the 19th century^eCentury, and notablyfacing major cholera pandemics, international regulations have been developed to harmonize responses and ward off health hazards. In 1887, for example, the countries of the South American cone adopted the Rio Convention to protect their internal trade relations and guard against extracontinental epidemics. These maritime health regulations were then strictly enforced, particularly by Argentina, as these measures also helped assert the independence of states against the pressures of Western powers. Cape Verde’s refusal to host theHondiuscan be read through this prism. It is a precautionary measure, but also a political decision of sovereignty.

The maritime doctor, still an essential actor

At the heart of these events is a figure often forgotten: the maritime doctor. Heir tomilitary navy doctors, its role was structured within the merchant navy in the 19th century, notably in France through the reforms of 1876 and 1896 which professionalized onboard medicine. Even today, aspecialized training remains in France in Brest(Finistère), preparing practitioners to intervene on board or from the land but always “in a maritime situation.” The episode ofHondiusemphasizes the importance of these skills, at the intersection of medicine, epidemiology, and logistics in constrained environments.

The specificity of the maritime environment is not only due to isolation. It also concerns disease vectors and, in this case, infection withhantavirus, which is suspected in this case, is transmitted by rodents. Although it is highly unlikely that the disease comes from the ship’s hold rather than from a port of call, the event reminds us that thefight against ratsis a constant in naval history.

The drastic measures implemented in the 19th century are effective and allow a significant decline in the populations of murids on board. The fumigation of the holds in particular, or simply the installation of metal discs on the mooring lines to prevent rats from climbing on board, are among the major advances. Despite this, thepresence of rodents on board is never completely eradicated. Paradoxically, the number of dead rats found – but healthy after autopsy – at the end of a crossing was often considered an indirect indicator of the ship’s sanitary condition. The presence of a plague-infected animal carcass signaled a health alert, even before a human case appeared.

These elements remind us that the sea remains a special environment where health balances are fragile. They thus encourage reinvestment in fields of study sometimes neglected, both in the maritime and health sectors. For several years,female and male historians of maritime affairs increasingly focus on the lives of seafarers. A study day dedicated to health in the maritime environment, entitled“Prevent and Cure – Organizing Health at Sea (17th-20th century)”, will also be held on May 13 at the University of Angers (Maine-et-Loire), a sign that these issues continue to engage researchers.

Far from being a mere anomaly, the episode ofHondiusthus acts as a revelator. It shows that, despite changes in mobility and health systems, certain old configurations can resurface. And that, faced with health uncertainty, societies sometimes almost instinctively return to practices inherited from several centuries of maritime experience.

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The study day “Prevent and Cure”, on the history of health at sea, will be held on May 13, 2026 at the University of Angers (Maine-et-Loire).

François Drémeaux has received funding from the European Commission under a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions contract for the SHIPPAN (Shipping Pandemics) research program.

–ref. The “Hondius” as a floating quarantine: the sea as an observatory of epidemic spread –https://theconversation.com/le-hondius-en-quarantaine-flottante-la-mer-comme-observatoire-de-la-propagation-epidemique-282175