Reef collision and death Cruise passengers unpack after horror trip and settle accounts
"It's a disgrace": passengers paid over 10,000 francs for a twelve-day luxury cruise - but the ship ran aground on a reef. The company is already under pressure because of an incident in October.
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- The cruise ship "Coral Adventurer" has run aground on a reef around 30 kilometers off Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea during a twelve-day luxury cruise.
- While the authorities detain the ship, the company is facing massive criticism from passengers.
- The company has already been under investigation for two months in another case.
- During a stopover on a round-the-world cruise, a woman was left behind on a remote island. The 80-year-old died as a result.
The authorities are still investigating a death on a remote Australian island. Now the shipping company Coral Expeditions is coming under renewed pressure after a cruise ship ran aground off Papua New Guinea.
The Coral Adventurer had set sail from Cairns on December 18 for a twelve-day luxury cruise with 123 people on board. The passengers had each paid more than 13,000 dollars (around 10,300 francs). But the cruise came to an abrupt end when the ship ran aground on a reef off the coast of Finschaffen, east of Lae and about 30 kilometers north of Port Moresby, on 27 December.
According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the ship tilted six degrees after the collision and became stuck. No one was injured in the incident.
Cruise ship stuck
"Disappointed, disillusioned and it's a shame," one traveler told TV station 7News after returning to Cairns. "We had 20 seconds of shaking and it wasn't pleasant."
Passenger Ursula Daus from Berlin said she felt "in danger". "And then they told us we were safe for another four days. It was terrible," she reported.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, meanwhile, has detained the cruise ship to investigate what went wrong during the recent voyage. The ship's operators told the UK's Daily Mail newspaper that initial investigations by divers had found no significant damage to the hull.
"Coral Expeditions regrets the stranding of its vessel and apologizes to our passengers," the company said in a press release. The stranded travelers have been offered refunds or discounts.
According to reports, the Coral Adventurer was "refloated" after a coordinated action by several authorities on New Year's Eve. After the passengers disembarked, they were taken by bus to Nadzab Tomodachi International Airport and flown to Cairns on a chartered plane.
The ship is expected to return to Cairns once permission has been granted.
80-year-old dies on remote island
The shipping company's latest crisis comes just two months after a tragic death that made headlines around the world. A grandmother from the Australian state of New South Wales died after being left behind on a remote island during a stopover.
80-year-old Suzanne Rees was left behind during a stopover on Lizard Island at the end of October while taking part in an 80,000 dollar (around 63,500 Swiss francs) round-the-world cruise.
Rees was on her way to the summit of the highest mountain on the Great Barrier Reef island, but turned back when she was too exhausted. She did not make it back on board the ship, raising serious questions about the five-hour delay in the search. The investigation into the death is still ongoing.
