- An 80-year-old British woman died during a luxury cruise.
- She was forgotten on an island by the crew.
- The 60-day trip around Australia was canceled following the death.
The stroll on a paradise island turns into tragedy. Suzanne Rees was found dead (new window)on Sunday, October 26 on an island in the Great Barrier Reef while taking a luxury cruise. The 80-year-old British woman is believed to have been abandoned by the cruise ship on the remote island, as police say she “failed to reboard”
. Result: the trip which was to last 60 days around Australia was canceled a few days after the tragedy.
An investigation on board the ship
It was the very first stop of this long luxury journey. Suzanne Rees was hiking on Lizard Island on the second day of her trip with other passengers on the Coral Adventurer, the expedition cruise ship. But once the highest peak of the island was reached, the octogenarian separated from her group to rest. When the hiker returned at sunset, the ship had weighed anchor without her. He did not return until several hours later, after the crew noticed he was missing. A major search operation was then launched on the island before his body was found the next day.
Interviewed by the BBC (new window)the victim’s daughter, Katherine Rees, said Thursday that her family was “shocked and saddened that the Coral Adventurer has left”
the island without her mother, whom she described as a “active octogenarian”
member of a hiking group. “From what we have been told, it appears there was a lack of vigilance and common sense.”
If the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) is still investigating the exact circumstances of the incident, in collaboration with the Queensland police, the CEO of the company wanted to cut the trip short. In a statement this Saturday, November 1 (new window)Mark Fifield, said the ship’s passengers and crew had been informed as early as Wednesday that the remainder of the voyage had been canceled due to the “tragic death of Suzanne Rees and previous mechanical problems”.
It specifies in the press release that passengers will be fully reimbursed. According to an online ad, balcony cabins on this ship sell for $86,400 per person, the equivalent of around 75,000 euros.
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A way of complying with the investigation opened by Amsa, which seeks in particular to establish whether there was “a breach of the rules concerning the passenger who was not counted on board the ship”
and who banned any new passengers from boarding the ship. The police spokesperson said officials would board the ship as soon as it returned to Cairns, Australia.
