AUSTRALIAN authorities have launched a major investigation after an elderly woman was found dead on a remote island in the great Barrier Reef – amid fears she was left behind by her luxury cruise ship.
The 80-year-old solo traveller was on the first stop of the 60-day, £40,000-a-ticket ($80,000) circumnavigation of Australia aboard the Coral Adventurer when tragedy struck.
Police and the coroner are now probing how she became stranded on Lizard Island, and whether she might have been saved if help had come sooner.
Investigators are wondering why it took so long for the alarm to be raised, and why the search didn’t begin immediately.
It’s understood the woman was not reported missing until Saturday night – hours after she was due to re-board the NRMA-owned cruise ship.
The Coral Adventurer had only set sail from Cairns the day before, beginning its two month voyage across the country.
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On Saturday, the ship anchored off Lizard Island – a remote slice of paradise 90km northeast of Cooktown – where passengers disembarked for a day of hiking and snorkelling.
Authorities believe the woman was hiking to the island’s highest summit, known as Cook’s Look, when she became separated from her group.
She had reportedly stopped to rest and lost her way on the return trek.
“The group continued on and boarded the vessel before realising she was not there,” a source told The Australian.
Another source claimed the tourist may have fallen from a cliff during her hike.
By the time the ship’s crew noticed she was missing that evening, it was already back at sea.
The Coral Adventurer later turned around and sailed back toward Lizard Island, arriving around 2am on Sunday.
Yachtie Traci Ayris, who was anchored nearby, said she and her partner heard radio transmissions from the cruise ship during the frantic search.
“They did headcounts for snorkellers (which we heard) but not for other guests on the island it would seem,” Ms Ayris told the Cairns Post.
“The last people came down from the track and got into tender then the (ship) left very soon after that.
“There was not a lot of time between when the last passengers left the beach to when they up anchored.
“We even commented, ‘Wow they left fast.’”
According to tracking data, the vessel had sailed off that evening, only to return once the missing passenger was reported.
A helicopter began searching around midnight, while seven crew members scoured the mountain by torchlight.
“We watched the search up the mountain,” Ms Ayris said. “Until the search was called off around 3am and then (resumed) again at first light.”
She said the helicopter returned at dawn. “It went directly to Telstra Rock (where she was last seen) and immediately it hovered then went straight to the air strip.
“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].”
Ms Ayris and her partner later posted about the heart-breaking scene on their SV Vellamo Facebook page.
“Never a dull moment at Lizard. Sadly we witnessed a terrible incident where a hiker from a cruise ship was (possibly) left behind and was found later deceased,” they wrote.
“It took all day for repatriation of the poor hiker from the mountainside. It left us all feeling very sad for everyone involved.”
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it was first alerted around 9pm on Saturday and will meet with the ship’s crew when it docks in Darwin this weekend.
The Coral Adventurer – which carries up to 120 passengers – has continued its voyage through the Torres Strait towards Thursday Island.
Coral Expeditions confirmed the death in a statement to Daily Mail.
“The crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea,” said chief executive Mark Fifield.
“Following the operation, Coral Expeditions was notified by Queensland Police that the woman had been found deceased on Lizard Island.
“While investigations into the incident are continuing, we are deeply sorry that this has occurred and are offering our full support to the woman’s family.
“The Coral team has been in contact with the woman’s family, and we will continue to offer support to them through this difficult process.
“We are working closely with Queensland Police and other authorities to support their investigation. We are unable to comment further while this process is underway.”
Cruise industry expert Adrian Tassone said he was baffled by how the tragedy could have happened.
“That’s something I’m really struggling to understand myself,” he said.
“Cruise lines in normal operation will always know who is on the ship and who isn’t.
“If the reports are to be believed and this woman was left on the island, I really can’t understand how that occurred.
“It’s something that most people are questioning and are trying to come to grips with.”
Tassone added that most cruise operators have strict systems — such as digital headcounts – to ensure no passengers are ever left behind.
“It’s atypical from the regular cruise environment,” he said.
“This ship held a maximum of 120 passengers, so I struggle to understand how a headcount wasn’t conducted.
“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.”
Lizard Island is one of the Great Barrier Reef’s most isolated destinations -famed for its snorkelling, diving and hiking.
Its signature trail, Cook’s Look, follows the path of explorer Captain James Cook, who climbed the peak in 1770 to find a way through the reef after his ship struck it.
The trek covers four kilometres and climbs steeply, with the island’s website warning it requires “medium to high fitness and agility” and is best done early in the morning due to the tropical heat.
“Those that have done this hike say it is challenging but incredibly rewarding,” the website adds.
Queensland Police said the woman’s death was being treated as “sudden and non-suspicious”, with a report prepared for the coroner.
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Ms Ayris told ABC the tragedy had left everyone shaken.
“It was very sad in this paradise to have this tragedy occur,” she said. “It should have been a happy time for that lovely lady.”