Three passengers dead, others sick with possible hantavirus onboard cruise ship off West Africa

Well, this seems like a terrible way to spend a vacation:

That's travel influencer Jake Rosmarin, and he's having what looks like the worst time of his life on the MV Hondius cruise ship.

Yes, a luxury expedition cruise to Antarctica has turned into a bit of a floating nightmare for passengers who just wanted to see penguins and icebergs. Now, three people are dead from hantavirus, others are sick, and the ship is stuck floating off the coast of Cape Verde while local officials refuse to let anyone off.

From New York Post:

The MV Hondius requested help from local health authorities Sunday after making its way to the island — but has so far been refused permission to dock, the company operating the cruise said.

About 150 people are stuck on the vessel after three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — died following the suspected hantavirus outbreak.

Here's where it starts to look even more like a nightmare-fuel movie:

A 70-year-old Dutch man died on April 11 after developing a fever, headache, abdominal pain , and diarrhea, officials said.

His body was taken off the vessel two weeks later on the British territory of Saint Helena — some 1,200 miles off the African coast.

His 69-year-old wife was transferred to South Africa at the same time but collapsed at a Johannesburg airport and died at a nearby hospital.

A third man fell sick with what authorities believe was hantavirus, a "rare infection spread by rodents that can cause serious respiratory illness or hemorrhagic fever," but was dropped off in South Africa and wasn't reported dead.

A German man, however, died on the ship on Saturday.

I'm sure this will blow up and become a huge story, as it, again, seems like a poorly written Hollywood script.

Pray that these people make it home okay, or at least get to deboard the ship to safety.