Evacuating American on Ship With Outbreak May Cost $750K

The Trump administration put up $750,000 to charter a private yacht to evacuate a single American citizen from a remote South Pacific island after she had been aboard a cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak, a move that has further strained the State Department's emergency budget. The woman, who may have been exposed to the virus while aboard the Dutch MV Hondius cruise liner in April, had gotten off the ship and then flown to San Francisco before traveling to the isolated British territory of Pitcairn Island through Tahiti, according to two US officials and an internal government document obtained by the AP.

The exact amount of the evacuation payment is still being assessed because the operation is underway. The costly effort to pick up the woman has added to the expense of rapid evacuations for diplomats and private American citizens from the Middle East since the start of the Iran war as well as preparations for possible evacuations from Ebola-stricken countries. All have strained the State Department budget for unforeseen emergencies, known as the "K Fund," and brought its balance to the lowest level in seven years. The department said only that "when an American is at risk abroad and unable to access commercial transportation, the Department of State seeks to provide appropriate assistance to get them home to the United States or to another safe location."

After the woman departed the cruise liner with the outbreak, the ship continued to other destinations in the South Atlantic, with some passengers falling ill and at least three dying. The unidentified American was stuck on Pitcairn, an island with only about 50 inhabitants, no airport, and infrequent maritime options to depart. The US is transporting the woman, who was not symptomatic, to Easter Island, another remote location in the Pacific about 1,400 miles away, which is a territory of Chile and has direct flights to Santiago, so she can return to the US. The government document said the yacht is owned by a wealthy Frenchman, who uses it for personal exploration in the South Pacific. Pitcairn has no airport and only limited sea access. The officials said the woman had no political or celebrity connections.