France, May 10 -- The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius arrived near the Spanish port of Granadilla escorted by a Civil Guard vessel, journalists of the French press agency reported, confirmed by data from the maritime tracking service VesselFinder.

Passengers and some of the crew are expected to evacuate before the ship, where an outbreak of hantavirus led to the deaths of three people, continues on its way to the Netherlands.

Three passengers from the ship -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.

The only hantavirus type that can transmit from person to person -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positi...