🔗 Share this article

An extensive 60-day journey circling the Australian Coast has been cancelled following the death of an elderly woman who was abandoned by the ship on a distant coastal location.

The elderly woman had been hiking on Lizard Island with shipmates from the vessel, but broke off from the group for a pause. The ship sailed away leaving her and returned later that day after the ship staff realised the lady was missing.

A large-scale rescue mission found her person the next day.

Investigative bodies are examining the incident, alongside law enforcement and the official investigator.

Chief Executive of the cruise operator stated that travelers and crew on the ship were notified that the continuation of the journey had been called off due to the "sad loss and prior technical problems".

In a statement, he added that travelers would be provided a full refund, and said the company was working "to arrange the travel back of the passengers via private aircraft".

Regulatory bodies also released an updated statement, and said they had "delivered a directive to the Commander" prohibiting any additional guests from entering the ship.

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

Timeline of Incidents

The liner first departed Cairns on October 24th, and was merely two days into the voyage at the moment of the 80-year-old's passing. The remote island was the first stop on the journey.

Passengers on the ship - who generally pay tens of thousands of money to participate in the cruise - were ferried there for a day trip with the choice of hiking or snorkeling.

Family Response

The child of the elderly passenger said that her loved ones was "stunned and distressed that the vessel left the island after an scheduled excursion without my mum".

Via her announcement, she portrayed her mum as an "energetic 80-year-old" who was a participant of a bushwalking group.

"Based on limited information we have been provided, it seems that there was a failure of attention and ordinary reasoning," she said.

She further stated that she wished the investigation would be able to determine what "the company should have performed that might have preserved Mum's existence".

"We understand from the authorities that it was a extremely warm period, and she took sick on the hill climb," she stated.

"She was asked her to go back, unescorted. Then the ship departed, apparently without performing a headcount.

"At some stage in that process, or shortly after, mother succumbed, by herself."

Operator Position

In a statement, the CEO affirmed that the operator was "collaborating extensively with authorities to assist their inquiry".

He stated that the firm was "very regretful that this has happened" and had provided its full support to the relatives.

Cruise Industry Procedures

The liner serves up to a hundred twenty guests with nearly fifty staff, according to official information. It was specially constructed to access isolated regions of the nation's coast and is outfitted with "small boats" - small boats used to transport individuals on shore trips.

Occurrences like this are rare, and cruise ships have procedures to track which individuals are getting on or getting off, according to maritime specialists.

"Going ashore secretly or [back] on the ship just isn't an choice," a specialist stated.

Shipping companies take these methods extremely carefully and have "sophisticated systems in place to avoid such occurrences from occurring," the authority continued.

"This seems to be presumably a surprising - and tragic - single occurrence."