Voyage Cancelled In the Wake of Death of Female Passenger Abandoned on Island
An extensive extended journey circling Australia is being halted days after the death of an senior woman who was stranded by the vessel on a remote island.
The passenger had been walking on the tropical location with other travelers from the cruise ship, but broke off from the party for a rest. The vessel left without her and returned after some time after the ship staff realised the woman was unaccounted for.
A large-scale search operation discovered her body the following day.
Officials are examining the incident, together with investigators and the official investigator.
Head of the shipping company said that guests and crew on the vessel were told that the rest of the journey had been called off due to the "unfortunate death and earlier engine troubles".
In a statement, he added that guests would be issued a total repayment, and said the operator was working "to coordinate the travel back of the passengers via private aircraft".
Officials also issued an updated announcement, and said they had "delivered a order to the Master" banning any new passengers from entering the liner.
The representative said that they would inspect the ship in Cairns upon its coming back.
Timeline of Occurrences
The liner first departed the coastal city on the 24th of October, and was only 48 hours into the expedition at the time of the elderly woman's demise. The tropical location was the opening port on the itinerary.
Passengers on board - who generally pay large sums of dollars to join the cruise - were transported there for a shore visit with the possibility of walking or snorkeling.
Family Statement
The child of the victim said that her family was "surprised and saddened that the ship left Lizard Island after an scheduled tour without my mother".
Via her announcement, she described her mother as an "active 80-year-old" who was a affiliate of a bushwalking organization.
"From the little information we have been provided, it looks that there was a failure of responsibility and basic judgment," she mentioned.
She continued that she desired the examination would be able to pinpoint what "the organization should have undertaken that might have saved Mum's being".
"Based on information from the authorities that it was a very hot afternoon, and mother fell ill on the uphill trek," she revealed.
"She was asked her to head down, without accompaniment. Then the boat departed, apparently without performing a headcount.
"At a certain moment in that sequence, or not long after, she died, by herself."
Operator Position
Through an announcement, the CEO affirmed that the organization was "working closely with investigators to aid their inquiry".
He said that the firm was "extremely apologetic that this has happened" and had offered its total backing to the relatives.
Cruise Industry Standards
The ship accommodates up to a hundred twenty travelers with nearly fifty staff, according to official data. It was specially constructed to access remote locations of Australia's coast and is outfitted with "auxiliary vessels" - small boats used to take travelers on day excursions.
Events like this are uncommon, and passenger vessels have procedures to record which passengers are embarking or getting off, according to industry experts.
"Leaving covertly or [back] aboard just isn't an possibility," an authority remarked.
Cruise lines regard these procedures extremely carefully and have "advanced technology in place to stop such events from happening," the authority further stated.
"This seems to be most likely a stunning - and tragic - isolated incident."