The maritime captain of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Antonio Conde, explained today at the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), meeting in London, how the maritime security crisis affecting the MV Hondius cruise ship, flying the flag of the Netherlands, was managed. Conde positioned coordination, cooperation, and commitment as the elements that explain the result of the operation, which was at the time qualified by the World Health Organization as a model of management.
The intervention took place before an audience formed by the delegations of the 40 member States of the IMO Council and more than a hundred international observers. Alongside the maritime captain participated the General Director of Maritime Trade, Ana Núñez, signer of the resolution that authorized the entry of the vessel into the port of Granadilla, in Tenerife. The presentation was conducted jointly with the delegation of the Netherlands, the flag State of the cruise.
Conde detailed step by step the management of the health crisis from the perspective of maritime security and stated that "it would not have been possible without the coordination of the health authority, the maritime authority, the port authority, and civil protection." Regarding the choice of the destination port, he explained that "the resolution issued by the General Directorate of Maritime Trade, establishing the port of Granadilla as the destination point had many pros, because it is an industrial port, it is not close to populated areas, there is space to handle crowds, and the international airport is only 6 kilometers away and is very well connected by road."
The Maritime Captaincy monitored the vessel from the moment the health situation on board was known. It escorted it from its entry into the particularly sensitive maritime area (PSSA) of the Canary Islands with Maritime Rescue means and established a restricted navigation area of one mile around the ship. The General Directorate of Maritime Trade authorized the stop in port and ordered the closure of the port to any other operation before the arrival of the cruise.
On that basis, the transfer of passengers from the cruise to the auxiliary boats, the disembarkation at the Granadilla dock, and the rest of the associated operations were developed, always under the supervision of the health authorities, who acted as directors of the emergency. The resolution of the General Directorate of Maritime Trade that supported the entry of the MV Hondius in Granadilla was based on Article 299 of the Consolidated Text of the State Ports and Maritime Trade Law, a regulatory framework that, according to the Administration itself, provided the necessary rigor and legal stability for the maritime security and public health operations to be carried out with the required guarantees.
After the maritime captain's intervention before the IMO Council, the General Director of Maritime Trade described the maritime captains as "true eyes of the maritime Administration in coastal areas" and recognized the work developed by José Antonio Conde in the device designed to respond to the crisis caused by the hantavirus outbreak on the vessel. Núñez positioned Conde's action as an example of the professionalism and commitment required in such episodes, where the response must be coordinated within hours between administrations of different levels and areas of competence.
In the joint presentation with the delegation of the Netherlands, the participants described the internal cooperation between Spanish administrations and the international cooperation with the flag State as the determining factor for the successful operation. The case of the MV Hondius has become, since it was resolved, a reference cited in international forums on maritime security and public health on board, due to the combination of rapid response, clear legal framework, and orderly distribution of responsibilities among the involved authorities.
The IMO Council reviews and shares periodically among its member States the response protocols for health and security emergencies on passenger vessels. In this work, the already resolved cases, such as that of the MV Hondius, serve as practical reference for updating international guidelines applicable to similar situations in other ports and jurisdictional waters.
