Around 40 passengers, including the wife of a Dutch man who died, left the cruise ship during a stop at St. Helena, a small, craggy island in the South Atlantic Ocean, the Dutch foreign ministry has said.

In a letter to parliament sent late Wednesday evening local time, foreign minister Tom Berendsen said that those who disembarked on the remote island included a Dutch woman who is hospitalised, South Africa and a Swiss man who is also currently being treated.

Authorities did not confirm where the disembarked passengers are now.