It happened on the second day of her cruise.
An 80-year-old woman was found dead on a remote island on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia on Sunday. Suzanne Rees was on a cruise when she was left behind on Lizard Island, off Queensland. She hiked with fellow passengers but stopped to rest. The cruise departed without her, and her body was discovered on the island the next day.
On day two of the 60-day voyage, the Coral Adventurer arrived at Lizard Island. Rees and other passengers disembarked to hike Cook’s Look mountain, but Rees needed to rest during the hike and became separated from the group. The ship left the island that afternoon without Rees, who had not returned to the vessel. The crew realized she was missing after the excursion, when the ship had already departed. The captain alerted the Australian Maritime Safety Authority at about 9 p.m.
Before midnight Saturday, a helicopter searched the island but did not find her. The cruise returned to the island in the early hours of Sunday, turning around before 9 p.m. Saturday. A search party was sent with flashlights, but the search was called off until daylight. The next morning, a helicopter located her body at about 9:30 a.m.
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Her daughter, Katherine Rees, said there was a “failure of care and common sense.” She was shocked and saddened to learn the cruise left without her mother. “We understand from the police that it was a very hot day, and Mum felt ill on the hill climb. 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.”
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She described Rees as a healthy and active gardener, and hopes the “coronial inquiry will find out what the company should have done that might have saved Mum’s life.”
Police are treating the death as sudden and non-suspicious. Authorities are investigating how the ship left without accounting for all passengers. “[We] will make an assessment as to whether there was any non-compliance associated with the passenger not being counted onto the ship and, if necessary, will take action to address them,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.
Most cruise ships have systems to account for all disembarking passengers. Ships have left tardy passengers behind before, but if ship-organized excursions run late, the captain generally waits.
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Mark Fifield, CEO of Coral Expeditions, which operates the ship, expressed condolences to the family and said the company is working with authorities to investigate the death. He said in a statement, “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.”
According to the company’s website, the Coral Adventurer can carry 120 guests and 46 crew members. The cruise takes passengers to remote coastal areas of Australia and costs $50,000. After the incident, the vessel continued its journey and will arrive in Darwin this week, where officials will board the ship to determine where procedures failed.
