A luxury 60-day cruise around Australia has been cancelled after the tragic death of an 80-year-old woman who was accidentally left behind on a remote island. The incident has shocked passengers and sparked multiple investigations into what went wrong.
The passenger, identified as Suzanne Rees, had been hiking on Lizard Island, located about 250 km north of Cairns, with other travellers from the cruise ship Coral Adventurer. During the hike, she decided to take a short rest while the group continued climbing towards the island’s highest point, Cook’s Look. But when the ship departed around sunset, the crew failed to notice that she hadn’t returned.
Hours later, when they realised she was missing, the Coral Adventurer turned back to the island, but they could not find her. A major overnight search involving helicopters, boats, and rescue teams was launched, and her body was found the next morning. Queensland Police confirmed her death and said that a report would be prepared for the coroner.
Following the tragedy, Coral Expeditions, the company operating the cruise, announced that it was cancelling the rest of the 60-day voyage. The company’s CEO, Mark Fifield, said passengers were informed on Wednesday, 29th October, that the trip was being called off due to “the tragic passing of Suzanne Rees and previous mechanical issues.”
All passengers will receive full refunds, and the company said it is helping arrange their return travel through chartered flights. “We are deeply sorry that this has occurred,” Fifield said, adding that the company is fully cooperating with police and maritime authorities.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) also confirmed that it had issued a notice prohibiting the ship from taking on any new passengers until the investigation is complete. Officials will board the vessel when it returns to Cairns.
Family blames cruise company for “failure of care”
Suzanne’s daughter, Katherine Rees, expressed her family’s grief and frustration, saying they were “shocked and saddened” that the ship left without her mother. “From the little we have been told, it seems that there was a failure of care and common sense,” she said.
She added that her mother was an “active 80-year-old” who regularly went bushwalking. “We understand from the police that it was a very hot day, and mum fell ill on the hill climb. She was asked to head down unescorted. Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count,” Katherine said. “At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, mum died alone.”
The family now hopes the coroner’s inquiry will determine exactly what the cruise company could have done differently to prevent the tragedy.
Rare incident on a luxury expedition ship
The Coral Adventurer is a small expedition vessel that accommodates up to 120 passengers and 46 crew members. It was designed to access remote areas along Australia’s coast and is equipped with smaller boats, known as tenders, for day excursions like hiking and snorkelling.
Cruise experts said incidents like this are extremely rare. “Cruise lines have strict systems to record who goes ashore and who comes back,” said Harriet Mallinson, cruise editor at travel website Sailawaze. “Sneaking ashore or back onboard just isn’t an option. There’s usually technology in place to prevent such incidents, so this is a tragic one-off.”
What happened on Lizard Island
According to the media reports, the Coral Adventurer had left the north-western city of Cairns on 24th October, beginning its 60-day circumnavigation of Australia. Lizard Island was the first stop on the journey, with passengers paying tens of thousands of dollars for the trip.
On that Saturday, passengers were taken to the island for a day trip, with options to hike or snorkel. Suzanne joined the hike group but decided to rest midway. When the group returned to the ship without her, the ship departed without realising she was missing. Later when her absence was noticed, the ship’s captain alerted AMSA about the situation.
Both the AMSA and Queensland Police have initiated an investigation into the incident, and the final report is expected to be overseen by the state coroner. “The AMSA takes the safety of passengers and crew on commercial vessels very seriously, and they will be working with other agencies to see what happened,” the AMSA spokesperson said.
With the Coral Adventurer now back in Cairns, attention shifts to the question of how such a fatal oversight could have happened on a modern cruise ship fitted with advanced tracking systems.
