Key facts
- The U.S. government spent $750,000 to charter a private yacht for an evacuation.
- The evacuation was for a single American citizen exposed to hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship.
- The woman was located on the remote British territory of Pitcairn Island.
- The evacuation effort has significantly depleted the State Department's emergency fund.
- The woman is being transported to Easter Island, a territory of Chile, for return to the U.S.
The U.S. government has spent $750,000 to charter a private yacht to evacuate a single American citizen from the remote Pitcairn Island. The woman had been aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius in April, which experienced a deadly hantavirus outbreak. After leaving the ship, she traveled to Pitcairn, a British territory with a small population and no airport, becoming stranded.
Complicating the evacuation, French Polynesian authorities initially denied transit for the woman due to her undisclosed exposure to the virus. The U.S. is now transporting her to Easter Island, a territory of Chile, from where she can return to the United States. The entire process has taken many weeks to arrange.
This costly evacuation has added to the strain on the State Department's emergency fund, known as the 'K Fund,' which has already been depleted by other rapid evacuations from the Middle East due to the Iran conflict and preparations for potential Ebola-related evacuations. The department is considering transferring up to $50 million from other budgets or requesting replenishment from Congress to manage ongoing and emerging contingency needs.