Family says ‘failure of care and common sense’ led to mum’s death on cruise

“I hope that the coronial inquiry will find out what the company should have done that might have saved mum’s life,” she said.

Matthew and Traci live on a sailing yacht and were anchored in Watson’s Bay when the Coral Adventurer arrived.

“We watched passengers from both ships coming and going all day,” they told this masthead.

“We saw the last group leave the beach, then in the small hours there was a helicopter scanning the mountainside and following the trail. We knew that meant someone was missing, but we didn’t realise it was from the ship until we heard on the radio and saw the [ship] returning to Lizard.”

‘Once-in-a-lifetime trip’

The Coral Adventurer is operated by Coral Expeditions.

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The vessel has been included in promotion for a “once-in-a-lifetime Australian Circumnavigation” carrying 112 guests for 60 days around the country, starting in October.

It promoted 48 days of guided excursion activities, an onboard program, an Island Cultural Festival in the Torres Straits, a Winemakers Lunch at Leeuwin Estate, and a charter flight to an Outback Homestead in Longreach.

Prices were advertised as starting at $54,000, with the most expensive balcony cabins priced at $86,400.

“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,” Coral Expeditions CEO Mark Fifield said on Tuesday.

“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.

“We are working closely with Queensland police and other authorities to support their investigation.”

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was notified of the search for Rees about 10pm on Saturday. It will now investigate why Rees was not accounted for during boarding.

“AMSA 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,” a spokesman said.

“AMSA intends to conduct enquiries on board the vessel when it arrives in Darwin. Details of timing of vessel arrival and/or AMSA’s next steps are not available at this time.”

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Lizard Island is about 30 kilometres from the mainland near Cooktown in the Great Barrier Reef and is part of the Lizard Island Group that also includes Palfrey Island.

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