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 positive, fuelling international concern.
"We classify everybody on board as what we call a high-risk contact," WHO's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove said Saturday.
But the risk to the general public and the people of the Canaries remained low, she added.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who arrived in Spain on Saturday and is expected to oversee the ship evacuation, gave the same assurance and thanked the people of Tenerife for their solidarity.
WHO chief due in Canaries to coordinate hantavirus ship evacuation
"I need you to hear me clearly," Tedros wrote in an open letter to the people of Tenerife on Saturday: "This is not another Covid."
After arriving in Tenerife, he said he was confident the operation would be a success. "Spain is ready and prepared," he told reporters.
Daily life uninterrupted
At the port of Granadilla de Abona early Sunday morning, AFP journalists of French press agency AFP saw white tents had been sent up along the quay and the police had secured part of the port.
Despite the situation, daily life appeared largely normal: some people were swimming, others shopping at the market or sitting at cafe terraces.
"There are worries there could be a danger, but honestly I don't see people being very concerned," said David Parada, a lottery vendor.
Regional authorities have refused to allow the vessel to dock. Instead, it will remain offshore while passengers are screened and evacuated between Sunday and Monday -- the only window health officials say the weather will allow.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions, that specialises on polar expeditions, said earlier that "all guests and a limited number of crew members" were expected to begin to leave the ship from around 0700 GMT.
"Once disembarked, they will be transferred immediately to their allocated aircraft," the Dutch firm said.
The WHO said Friday it had confirmed six cases out of eight suspected ones. There are no suspected cases remaining on the ship.
The MV Hondius is sailing from Cape Verde, where three infected people had already been evacuated earlier in the week.
(WIth newswires)
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