The cruise ship MV Hondius was finally stabilized in the waters of the Granadilla port after completing its approach to Tenerife in an operation marked by institutional tension, forced technical coordination, and open disagreement between the Port Authority and the central Administration. The ship, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, began disembarking passengers under an unprecedented recent health and maritime security device in the archipelago. What happened? The State has suspended the competences of the Port of Tenerife for reasons of general interest. It is as if the State is applying Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to the Canary Islands, which is reserved for extreme cases when a region declares itself rebellious. The president of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Port Authority, Pedro Suárez (PP), provided a critical assessment of the operation a few hours later. In statements to Cadena COPE, he spoke of “lack of coordination” and “lack of consensus” among administrations throughout the process. He also noted that the situation experienced had no precedent in his professional experience. According to Suárez’s account, the sequence was particularly rapid. After the request from the Canary Executive, the report from the Maritime Captaincy arrived concurrently with the formal assumption of competences by the State. This coincidence, he explained, shifted the operational responsibility to the state level. “Now the responsibility is no longer mine; it is directly assumed by the Marina Mercante,” summarized the port leader, describing the legal framework change that marked the operation’s development. The entry maneuver was carried out with the ship already positioned in a controlled anchorage area. Tugs assisted the operation to maintain the vessel’s stability while barges awaited the staggered transfer of passengers to solid ground. The port was partially closed to outside navigation, with a security perimeter activated throughout the night. Suárez emphasized that the operational responsibility ultimately fell to the Marina Mercante, a circumstance he described as unusual in the daily management of the port. According to his account, the sequence of decisions occurred within a very short time frame, with contradictory instructions between administrations. The port leader explained that the pilotage system was executed remotely to avoid direct contact between the pilots and the ship. This measure was adopted as part of the enhanced health protocol. The port was encapsulated, with no vessel traffic around the Hondius during the operation. The ship was placed in a secure position off the operational dock. From there, the progressive disembarkation of passengers is expected to occur via auxiliary vessels coordinated with Maritime Rescue. A tug remained attached to the hull of the cruise ship to ensure structural stability during the process. Suárez described the system as a high-complexity operation executed under institutional pressure. “We have put society in a strange situation,” he stated, while acknowledging that he did not recall an intervention of this nature in his professional career. The president of the Tenerife port authority defended the role of the board of directors of the organization, with a majority from the Government of the Canary Islands, although he insisted that the final decision was transferred to the Marina Mercante after receiving the reports from the Maritime Captaincy. The decision-making chain was activated following a request from the regional president, Fernando Clavijo, who asked to stop the ship’s anchoring until safety conditions for disembarkation were guaranteed. The disembarkation of the Hondius took place under strict health surveillance, with medical teams deployed on land and direct coordination with the Ministry of Health. The passengers, most of whom were asymptomatic, are waiting to be gradually transferred to the Tenerife South airport for repatriation. The management of the case has reopened the debate on the allocation of competencies in maritime emergency situations with health implications. The Granadilla port served as the stage for an operation where decisions were transferred between administrative levels in a matter of hours, leaving a feeling of institutional improvisation in full crisis. The Hondius went from being a ship in sanitary transit to becoming a reference case in managing complex port crises in the Canary Islands.
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