INVESTIGATORS will swoop in on the cruise ship that left a pensioner die on a remote island.
The Coral Adventurer will dock in Cairns, northeast Australia, tomorrow afternoon, and the crew will be questioned over how they failed to notice that 80-year-old Suzanne Rees had not reboarded after a stopover at Lizard Island.
Officials from four different government agencies will board the ship as soon as it arrives to dock, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has ordered the ship closed.
The cruise ship, operated by Coral Expeditions, was on the first stop of its 60-day itinerary when passengers were dropped off at Lizard Island, about two hundred kilometers off the coast of Cairns.
Suzanne, a keen walker from Sydney, embarked on a hike to the top of the island with a group of other passengers, but became separated.
She became ill during the climb and was asked to return alone, according to her daughter Katherine Rees.
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Suzanne apparently got lost on the way back, while all the other passengers climbed back on board the luxury ship.
The ship sailed again without anyone noticing Suzanne’s disappearance.
Katherine told The Australian: “The ship then left, apparently without counting the passengers. At some point in that sequence, or shortly after, Mum died alone.”
When the ship’s crew noticed him missing that night, he was already back at sea.
The boat turned around and arrived back at the island around 2 a.m. Sunday.
Coral Expeditions canceled the remainder of the cruise on Sunday, citing the “tragic” death and previous mechanical problems..
An AMSA spokesperson said: “The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has issued a notice to the captain of the Coral Adventurer prohibiting the boarding of new passengers.
“AMSA understands that the Coral Adventurer intends to return to Cairns where it will be attended to by AMSA upon arrival.
“Questions regarding the reason the ship’s destination has changed or the ship’s estimated arrival time should be directed to Coral Expeditions.”
Coral Expeditions confirmed the ship was due to arrive in Cairns on Tuesday afternoon.
Coral Expeditions chief executive Mark Fifield said Coral Expeditions informed passengers and crew that the cruise would not continue.
He said the decision was due to the “tragic death of Suzanne Rees and previous mechanical issues”.
“Given the circumstances of the last week, it was increasingly evident that we could not fulfill this (cruise) promise,” he said.
‘She was lying there all day’
Yacht Traci Ayris, which was anchored nearby, said she and her partner heard radio transmissions from the cruise ship during the frantic search.
Ms Ayris told the Cairns Post: “They did counts of the divers (something we heard), but apparently not of other guests on the island.
“The last people got off the track and went up to tender and the ship left shortly after.
“Not much time passed between the time the last passengers left the beach and the time they anchored.
“We even commented, ‘Wow, they went fast.’”
According to tracking data, the ship set sail that night and returned after the missing passenger was reported.
A helicopter began searching around midnight, while seven crew members scoured the mountain by torchlight.
Ayris said he watched the search operation on the mountain until it was called off around 3 a.m.
He said the helicopter returned at dawn and headed straight to Telstra Rock, where Suzanne was last seen.
He added: “We knew he had found her and the lack of activity told us she was clearly dead.
“She was there all day and finally they airlifted her. [just before 4pm].”
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In a post about Facebookhe later wrote: “There is never a dull moment on the Lizard. Sadly, we witnessed a terrible incident in which a cruise ship excursionist was (possibly) abandoned and later found dead.
“Repatriating the poor hiker from the mountainside took all day. It made us feel very sad for everyone involved.”
