🔗 Share this article

An extensive 60-day journey circling Australia is being halted following the fatal incident of an elderly woman who was left behind by the cruise liner on a remote tropical isle.

The elderly woman had been hiking on the remote island with other travelers from the cruise ship, but separated from the excursion for a pause. The ship left without her and went back later that day after the personnel realised the woman was unaccounted for.

A major rescue mission discovered her person the following day.

Officials are investigating the incident, in coordination with law enforcement and the medical examiner.

Chief Executive of the voyage organizer announced that passengers and crew on the Coral Adventurer were notified that the rest of the journey had been terminated due to the "tragic passing and previous technical problems".

Via official communication, he added that travelers would be issued a total repayment, and said the operator was working "to arrange the travel back of the travelers via private aircraft".

Officials also issued an updated announcement, and said they had "delivered a directive to the Master" prohibiting any new passengers from getting on the vessel.

The representative said that they would attend the liner in the port city upon its return.

Sequence of Incidents

The liner initially left Cairns on October 24th, and was merely two days into the expedition at the time of the senior passenger's demise. Lizard Island was the first stop on the voyage.

Passengers on the ship - who typically pay large sums of dollars to join the cruise - were ferried there for a shore visit with the option of hiking or underwater exploration.

Next of Kin Response

The offspring of the victim said that her family was "surprised and distressed that the ship left the island after an planned outing without my mum".

Via her announcement, she portrayed her mother as an "energetic octogenarian" who was a member of a bushwalking club.

"Based on limited details we have been informed, it looks that there was a lapse of care and basic judgment," she said.

She continued that she hoped the inquiry would be able to identify what "the operator should have done that might have saved Mum's existence".

"We understand from the investigators that it was a exceptionally warm afternoon, and mother took sick on the uphill trek," she explained.

"They requested her to head down, unescorted. Then the vessel left, reportedly without performing a headcount.

"During some point in that chain of events, or not long after, mother died, by herself."

Company Response

Via official communication, the Chief Executive confirmed that the operator was "cooperating fully with investigators to support their examination".

He mentioned that the firm was "very regretful that this has happened" and had extended its full support to the family.

Shipping Sector Standards

The liner caters for up to one hundred twenty passengers with nearly fifty personnel, according to official data. It was purpose-built to access distant locations of the Australian coastline and is fitted with "auxiliary vessels" - compact vessels used to ferry travelers on land visits.

Incidents such as this are rare, and liners have protocols to track which individuals are boarding or getting off, according to maritime specialists.

"Leaving covertly or [back] on the ship really isn't an option," a specialist remarked.

Shipping companies take these procedures extremely carefully and have "advanced technology in place to stop such events from taking place," the expert continued.

"This seems to be presumably a stunning - and unfortunate - one-off."