An angry passenger has confronted cruise ship staff after her dream Christmas voyage came to a crashing halt off the Papua New Guinea coast on the weekend.
The NRMA-owned Coral Adventurer struck a reef on Saturday, stranding dozens of passengers and crew.
On Tuesday night they made the arduous journey back to Australia — transferred from the grounded ship to a passenger boat before boarding a 2.5 hour charter flight to Cairns.
Coral Adventurer passengers were led straight to a charter bus. (ABC News Kristy Sexton-McGrath)
German tourist Ursula Daus demanded answers from a Coral Expedition representative at Cairns International Airport, who was directing cruise passengers to two waiting charter buses.
“No one is here to help me,” she told the representative.
“Someone from the company will be in touch, I’m just here for logistics,” he said.
Ms Daus told the ABC she felt like her life was “in danger” as the ship hit the reef.
“It was chaotic from the first moment,” Ms Daus said.
“Every five hours they would come out with a small bit of information.”
German tourist Ursula Daus said she would “never” travel with the cruise company again. (ABC News: Kristy Sexton-McGrath)
She said she began packing her belongings in anticipation of being evacuated, and would “never, ever again” travel with the company.
New Zealand tourist Cliff Inglis said he thought the ship was “going to sink” after the vessel hit the reef in the early hours of Saturday morning.
“But they came to the rescue in the end.”
Marilyn Walter, from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales said she still enjoyed the cruise. ( ABC News: Kristy Sexton-McGrath)
Marilyn Walter, from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, said she was woken early in the morning as the ship came to a standstill.
“It was just a little jar, that’s all,” Ms Walter said.
“We had a wonderful time.”
Regina Beliavskiene from Melbourne said she felt a jolt as the ship grounded on the reef off PNG. (ABC News: Kristy Sexton-McGrath)
Regina Beliavskiene from Melbourne said she woke up immediately.
“There was a captain’s announcement that the ship hit the ground and we were stuck,” Ms Beliavskiene said.
She said the ship was on a tilt for several days, but passengers still made it to the mainland for day trips.
A large tugboat sent from Lae floated the ship off the reef. (Supplied: Jurgen Ruh)
About 123 international passengers, including 43 crew, were aboard the ship when it struck a reef near Finschhafen, about 90 kilometres from the city of Lae.
The Cairns-based ship was transiting through Morobe, Madang and Sepik provinces when it hit strong sea currents and sailed onto the reef around 5:30am local time, according to authorities.
The ship’s operator, the NRMA-owned Coral Expeditions, said no-one onboard the vessel was injured.
A large tugboat sent from Lae on Tuesday floated the ship off the reef just before 6pm.
A Coral Expeditions spokesperson said the vessel was anchored nearby and assessments would be carried out.
Assessments will be carried out in the following days.
(Supplied: Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary)
Australian authorities investigating
Local authorities said strong sea currents likely contributed to the grounding, and boat operators typically avoided the area due to the high reef.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the incident.
ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said information was being collected to help with the investigation.
Stranded passengers in PNG to fly home after cruise ship runs aground
“Data from the ship’s voyage data recorder has been quarantined and investigators are collecting other relevant recorded information, including ship tracking data, weather information, and crew, operator and maintenance records,” he said in a statement.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it had detained the Coral Adventurer “based on reasonable suspicion” it was “not seaworthy due to potential damage sustained during the grounding”.
The ship departed Cairns on December 18 and was due to return on December 30.
A Coral Expeditions spokesman said “initial inspections indicate no damage to the vessel” but “further comprehensive inspections of the hull and marine environment [would] be conducted as standard procedure once the vessel is refloated”.
Mechanical issues before and after passenger death
The grounding comes just two months after the death of 80-year-old passenger Suzanne Rees during a separate voyage on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Sydney grandmother died on Lizard Island in October, during a stopover on a 60-day circumnavigation of Australia.
Inside the tropical island cruise that ended in tragedy
She had joined a guided walk to the summit of the island’s highest peak, but left the group to return to the ship, after becoming too tired to continue.
The ship left without her, but returned several hours later. Her body was found by rescue authorities.
Shortly after her death Ms Rees’s daughter, Katherine Rees, said the family was “shocked and saddened that the ship left Lizard Island after an organised excursion without my mum”.
“From the little we have been told, it seems that there was a failure of care and common sense,” she said in a statement.
The ship’s operator, the NRMA-owned Coral Expeditions, said no-one onboard the vessel during the latest incident was injured. (ABC News: Conor Byrne)
The ABC understands the ship had been experiencing mechanical problems before the October trip, delaying the start of the two-month journey by a week.
Coral Expeditions confirmed the trip was cancelled following Ms Rees’s death and the mechanical problems and passengers on that voyage were flown back to Cairns on a charter flight from Horn Island in the Torres Strait.
AMSA officers are also investigating that incident.
