An 80-year-old Australian woman has been found dead on a Great Barrier Reef island after being abandoned by the cruise ship she was on.
The woman was on a hike to Lizard Island, 250 km (155 miles) north of Cairns, with companions on the Coral Adventurer cruise ship on Saturday but is believed to have separated from the group to rest.
The ship left the island around sunset, but returned hours later after the crew realized the woman was missing. Her body was found on Sunday morning during a major search operation. No details are reported.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said it was investigating and would meet the ship’s crew later this week.
It is understood the woman, who has not been named, was on the first stop of a 60-day cruise around Australia, with tickets for the trip costing tens of thousands of dollars.
According to the Courier Mail, she joined a group hike to the island’s highest peak, Cook’s Bow, before deciding she needed a break.
But she did not have time to return to the ship, which then sailed away without her.
Such incidents are rare and cruise ships have systems in place to record passengers boarding or disembarking, Harriet Mallinson, editor of cruise website Sailawaze, told the BBC.
“Get ashore or [back] boarding is just not an option,” she said.
Cruise lines take these procedures very seriously and have “smart technology to prevent incidents like this from happening. This is likely to be a shocking – and tragic – one-off,” Ms Mallinson added.
[BBC]
Tracey Ayres was sailing near the island last weekend and told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that she saw a helicopter searching the island’s footpath with a searchlight at around midnight on Saturday.
She said about seven people with torches went to the island to search, but it was called off at around 03:00 on Sunday (18:00 GMT Saturday) with the helicopter returning on Sunday morning when the body was apparently found.
“We knew she was dead because they called everyone off the search immediately,” she told the ABC.
“And nobody went to the place where the helicopter was hovering until the police arrived later that day.”
An Amsa spokesman said the missing woman was first reported by the ship’s captain around 9pm on Saturday.
The authority said it will cooperate with other relevant agencies to investigate the case and takes the safety of passengers and crew on board commercial vessels seriously.
Ms Ayres also said the incident had clearly upset the crew and passengers.
“It was very sad in this paradise when this tragedy happened. It must have been a happy time for this wonderful woman.’
A report into the woman’s “sudden and non-suspicious death” will be prepared for the coroner, Queensland police said.
The incident happened on the first stop of a 60-day tour of Australia [Coral Expeditions]
Coral Expeditions chief executive Mark Fifield said staff had contacted the woman’s family and were offering support over the “tragic death”.
“While the investigation into the incident is ongoing, we are very sorry that this happened and offer our full support to the woman’s family,” Mr Fifield said.
“We are working closely with Queensland Police and other authorities to support their investigation. We cannot comment further while this process is ongoing,” he added.
Coral Adventurer accommodates up to 120 guests with a crew of 46, according to the company’s website. It was purpose-built to access remote areas of the Australian coast and is equipped with ‘tenders’ – small boats used to transport passengers on day trips.
The vessel continued its journey to Darwin.
Additional reporting by Tom MacArthur