Nat Barr has questioned how an elderly woman could have allegedly been left behind by a cruise ship before she was found dead on a tourist island.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the death of the Coral Expeditions passenger, 80, at Lizard Island off the Far North Queensland coast on Saturday.
The solo traveller, who was on an $80,000 trip, was hiking up to the Cook’s Look summit with fellow passengers when she needed to stop and became lost while making her back to the ship.
She was reported missing after she failed to return to the Coral Adventurer anchored offshore, sparking a land and sea search that continued well into the night and early hours of the morning.
Her body was located 50m off the walking track and retrieved from the mountain the following day, sparking many questions about safety protocols.
Boaties anchored near the island on Saturday claimed that the woman was left behind by the ship before the vessel returned hours later to search for her by torchlight.
They also claimed that a headcount was conducted by crew when snorkelling passengers returned to the boat, but not those who had gone to the island.
Sunrise host Nat Barr asked the question on everyone’s mind on Wednesday.
Adrian Tassone, also known as The Cruise and Travel Guy, says the tragic death of a cruise ship passenger on Lizard Island has left many unanswered questions
The woman’s body was found 50m off the walking track on Lizard Island’s Cook’s Look summit Pictured is the search on Sunday
‘How does something like this happen?’ she asked.
Cruising expert Adrian Tassone admitted he had no idea how it could have occurred.
‘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.’
Mr Tassone said that many cruise companies have strict systems in place, such as headcounts, to ensure all passengers are accounted for at all times.
The Coral Adventurer, which has capacity for 120 guests, is currently on a 60-night circumnavigation of Australia, having departed Cairns last week.
‘It’s unusual for numbers to not be known and checked, but I think what’s important in this instance is that it’s an expedition cruise,’ Mr Tassone said.
Cruising expert Adrian Tassone admitted he had no idea how it could have occurred
Boaties have claimed that cruise ship crew did a headcount of snorkelling passengers returning to the vessel but not those who explored Lizard Island (pictured)
‘It’s atypical from the regular cruise environment.
‘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.’
A Coral Expeditions spokesman told Daily Mail he was unable to comment further while investigations are underway.
‘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,’ chief executive Mark Fifield said in a statement on Tuesday.
‘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.’
The woman was reported missing hours after she failed to return to the Coral Adventurer (vessel pictured)
The woman was on her first stop of a 60-day, $80,000-a-ticket trip around Australia when she died.
Traci Ayris and her partner were anchored off the island on Saturday when they began listening to radio transmissions sent from the Coral Expeditions’ vessel.
‘They did headcounts for snorkellers (which we heard) but not for other guests on the island it would seem,’ she told the Cairns Post.
‘The last people came down from the track and got into tender then the (ship) left very soon after that.
‘We even commented, “Wow they left fast”.’
She claimed the vessel didn’t return to search for the missing passenger until later that night.
Police are treating the woman’s death as non-suspicious and will prepare a report for the Coroner.
Popular with divers, snorkellers and hikers, Lizard Island is one of the most remote tourism destinations on the Great Barrier Reef.
Cook’s Look is the highest point on the island and follows the footsteps of British explorer Captain James Cook, who is believed to be the first European to have trekked up the mountain in 1770 after his ship Endeavour struck a reef.
Launched in 2019, the Coral Adventurer cruise ship has a capacity of up to 120 passengers and 46 crew.
The ship is currently en route to Darwin, where it will be met by Australian Maritime Safety Authority officials investigating the tragedy.
