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A 60-day cruise through the Australian Coast is being halted days after the death of an senior woman who was stranded by the cruise liner on a remote island.

Suzanne Rees had been hiking on Lizard Island with shipmates from the Coral Adventurer, but separated from the group for a pause. The vessel left without her and came back after some time after the ship staff realised the woman was unaccounted for.

An extensive hunt found her body the following day.

Officials are looking into the incident, in coordination with investigators and the state coroner.

The CEO of the cruise operator said that travelers and personnel on the ship were told that the remainder of the cruise had been called off due to the "tragic passing and previous engine troubles".

In a statement, he added that guests would be issued a full refund, and said the company was working "to organize the travel back of the individuals via chartered flights".

Officials also published an latest statement, and said they had "provided a order to the Master" prohibiting any additional guests from boarding the ship.

The spokesperson said that they would attend the vessel in the Australian city upon its return.

Chronology of Events

The liner initially left the Australian port on the 24th of October, and was merely two days into the journey at the point of the senior passenger's demise. Lizard Island was the opening port on the journey.

Travelers on the vessel - who typically pay large sums of money to participate in the voyage - were taken there for a day trip with the choice of walking or snorkelling.

Family Reaction

The child of the victim said that her loved ones was "stunned and distressed that the ship left the island after an scheduled excursion without my parent".

Through her comments, she characterized her parent as an "vigorous 80-year-old" who was a participant of a hiking organization.

"According to scant information we have been told, it looks that there was a failure of responsibility and ordinary reasoning," she mentioned.

She continued that she wished the examination would be able to determine what "the operator should have done that might have saved Mother's being".

"Based on information from the police that it was a exceptionally warm afternoon, and she fell ill on the uphill trek," she explained.

"Officials suggested her to head down, without accompaniment. Then the vessel left, apparently without performing a passenger count.

"During some point in that chain of events, or soon after, mother passed away, by herself."

Company Response

In a statement, the Chief Executive confirmed that the operator was "cooperating fully with authorities to aid their inquiry".

He stated that the firm was "extremely apologetic that this has occurred" and had offered its complete assistance to the relatives.

Cruise Industry Procedures

The vessel serves up to one hundred twenty passengers with nearly fifty crew, according to corporate data. It was purpose-built to access isolated areas of the Australian coast and is equipped with "auxiliary vessels" - compact vessels used to take individuals on land visits.

Occurrences like this are uncommon, and liners have protocols to document which travelers are boarding or getting off, according to maritime specialists.

"Going ashore secretly or [back] aboard just isn't an possibility," an authority remarked.

Shipping companies consider these processes extremely carefully and have "sophisticated systems in place to avoid such events from happening," the expert further stated.

"This seems to be presumably a surprising - and tragic - single occurrence."