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The daughter of an octogenarian passenger found dead on a remote island in Australia after she was left behind by a luxury cruise ship has condemned the operator’s “failure of care”, as authorities launched an investigation into the incident. Suzanne Rees was on the second day of a 60-day, A$80,000 (US$52,700) round-Australia cruise when she disembarked from the Coral Adventurer at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday morning, The Guardian newspaper reported. Rees, 80, had intended to hike with other passengers to the island’s Cook’s Look mountain, a challenging 4km (2.5-mile) trail. But scorching temperatures forced the Sydney resident to abandon her trek and she headed back down alone, according to broadcaster 7 News. The woman never made it to the ship, which sailed away without her in the afternoon, and only became aware of the missing guest at night. The cruise liner later contacted the emergency hotline and returned to Lizard Island on Sunday morning, data from ship tracker Vessel Finder showed. Katherine Rees accused the ship of not conducting a passenger count and slammed the “failure of care and common sense” that led to her mother’s death. “We understand from the police that it was a very hot day, and mum fell ill on the hill climb,” local media quoted her as saying in a statement on Thursday. “She was asked to head down, unescorted. Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count. At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, mum died, alone.” The Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Queensland police described Rees’ death as “sudden and non-suspicious”, adding that the case was under investigation, national broadcaster ABC reported. Traci Ayris, who was aboard SV Vellamo anchored near Lizard Island, raised “questions about safety protocols and a delayed start to the search due to it not being known that the woman was missing”, the Cairns Post reported. She and her partner Matthew, who were listening to emergency radio transmissions sent from Rees’ ship, said: “They did headcounts for snorkellers [which we heard] but not for other guests on the island it would seem.” “The last people came down from the track and got into the tender, then the [ship] left very soon after that,” Ayris told the newspaper. Ayris said a rescue helicopter and seven cruise ship crew members were involved in the search operation until 3am (local time). “The chopper arrived [again] at first light and it went directly to Telstra Rock [where she was last seen] and immediately it hovered then went straight to the air strip,” she said. “We knew that it had found her and the lack of activity told us that she was clearly dead. She lay there all day and was finally airlifted [just before 4pm].” Sydney-based cruising expert Adrian Tassone told the Daily Mail that cruise companies normally ensure all passengers are accounted for at all times by adhering to strict systems such as headcounts. “This ship held a maximum of 120 passengers, so I struggle to understand how a headcount wasn’t conducted,” he said. “Typically, you get on a cruise ship and you scan a card that is your key card, which indicates when you’re on and off the ship. Those manifests I understand are across all cruise lines. “I don’t know if Coral Expeditions operates in a different manner to that, but I am really surprised something more robust isn’t in place that should have prevented this from happening.” Coral Expeditions CEO Mark Fifield expressed his condolences to the woman’s family and friends in a statement. “The Coral team have been in contact with the woman’s family, and we will continue to offer support to them through this difficult process,” Fifield said, as quoted by news.com.au. “We are working closely with Queensland Police and other authorities to support their investigation.” The cruise is still going on and investigators plan to board the ship in Darwin next week.
