The passengers of the MV Hondius, in the grip of a deadly virus outbreak, are putting on movies, sanitizing their hands repeatedly and awaiting their next socially distanced meal as their ship sails the Atlantic.
The nearly 150 people on board were practicing the kind of rigorous hygiene familiar from the coronavirus pandemic, while the crew frequently cleans hand rails and other high-contact surfaces.
They were hunkered down on board as officials in Spain on Wednesday laid out a contentious plan to receive the ship in the Canary Islands this week, over the objections of local leaders.
Mónica García, the Spanish health minister, said during a news conference on Wednesday that the Hondius would sail in the coming days from near the West African nation of Cape Verde to a port in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands. From there, she said, passengers would be able to return home if they are medically fit to travel.
Fernando Clavijo, who leads the regional government of the Canary Islands, objected to the ship docking there, though his government could do little to prevent it.
“There is no information that justifies why the vessel must sail for three days to the Canary Islands,” Mr. Clavijo said in a radio interview.