Cruise Ship Probed After Leaving Woman on Island

80-year-old Suzanne Rees was hiking on Lizard Island with fellow passengers from the Coral Adventurer but separated from the group to rest. The ship departed without her, only returning several hours later when the crew realized Ms. Rees was missing.

Officials from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) boarded the vessel on Wednesday morning local time.

The 60-day cruise around Australia, which cost guests thousands of dollars, was cancelled following Ms. Rees' death, as well as due to mechanical issues.

The Coral Adventurer was expected to dock in Cairns – where its operator, Coral Expeditions, is based.

But due to a lack of berths, it anchored off the coast of Yorkeys Knob, a few kilometers north, on Tuesday evening and remained there until Wednesday morning.

Ship tracking data showed one of the vessel's smaller boats, known as a tender, operating between the ship and the shore on Tuesday night.

All passengers disembarked at Horn Island in far north Queensland over the weekend and were flown to the mainland on a charter plane.
According to the company's website, the Coral Adventurer accommodates 120 guests with 46 crew members. It was specifically designed to access remote areas of the Australian coastline.

Tracking data shows the vessel initially departed Cairns at approximately 7:30 am local time on October 24 – after a delay of almost a week due to mechanical issues.

The following day it arrived at Lizard Island – also known as Jiigurru or Dyiigurra – in the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef for the first stop of the voyage. Passengers aboard the ship were taken by tender to the remote island – home to a luxury resort and a research station – where they could choose to go hiking or snorkeling.

Suzanne Rees's daughter, Catherine Rees, said last week that her family was "shocked and saddened that the Coral Adventurer left Lizard Island without my mother after an organised excursion."

She described her mother, a Sydney resident, as an "active 80-year-old woman" who was a member of a bushwalking group. "From what we understand, there was a lack of care and common sense."

Ms Rees added that she hoped a coroner's inquest would determine "what the company should have done that could have saved Mum's life."

"We understand from the police that it was a very hot day, and Mum became unwell during the uphill walk," she said.

"She was told to go back down without an escort. Then the ship left, apparently without counting the passengers.

"At some point during this sequence of events, or shortly afterwards, Mum died alone."

A search and rescue operation was launched late on Saturday, October 25 – the day she went missing – but no trace of Ms Rees was found. Her body was discovered the following day.

Last week, Coral Expeditions chief executive Mark Fifield confirmed that the firm was "cooperating fully with Queensland Police and other authorities in their investigation."

Mr Fifield said the company was "deeply saddened by this incident" and had offered its full support to the Rees family.