Authorities board Coral Adventurer at sea 10 days after the death of Suzanne Rees

• Investigators have finally boarded Coral Expeditions’ Coral Adventurer, the ship Suzanne Rees was travelling with when she tragically died.
• She was boarded off Yorkey’s Knob, a few kilometres from Cairns.
• Suzanne Rees died after allegedly being told to walk back down a mountain alone, after reporting discomfort and illness during a hike.

Investigators from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) boarded the Coral Adventurer on Wednesday to interview the crew over how an 80-year-old passenger came to die alone on Lizard Island and how the ship left her there without knowing she was missing.

In one of the most baffling and unusual cases, they will ask how a passenger could go missing for such a legth of time, and whether a head count was made before the vessel left the island 10 days ago.

The 60-day cruise around Australia with cruise line Coral Expeditions has been cancelled, and passengers have disembarked.

Suzanne Rees tragically died on a shore excursion at Lizard Island, capturing national and international attention.

Lizard Island, an island in the Great Barrier Reef where Suzanne Rees tragically passed away after leaving unescorted from a hike, was just the first stop of a two month cruise.

Coral Adventurer had been expected to dock at Cairns – where its operator Coral Expeditions is based. But a lack of available berths meant it was forced to drop anchor a few kilometres north early on Tuesday evening.

Reports said only a skeleton crew were on board. The rest were now on shore in Queensland.

One of the vessel’s tenders was observed moving between the ship and the shore on Tuesday night.

Chief Executive Officer of Coral Expeditions Mark Fifield said the company which prides itself on “delivering high quality-experiences to our guests, realised that “It was increasingly apparent, given the circumstances of the last week, that we could not deliver on this promise.”

He also said that “following the tragic passing of Suzanne Rees and previous mechanical issues, the decision had been made to cancel the remainder of the voyage”.

On Tuesday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is expected boarded the ship when it arrives in Cairns.

AMSA will likely revise things like the ships logbook to determine how it went unnoticed that Rees had not boarded the ships and conduct interviews with the crew involved in her excursion.

Due to orders from AMSA, the ship will be under lockdown for an unspecific amount of time, likely until the agency feels it has gathered all the information that it needs.

Other agencies that are expected to board the ship when it arrives include Queensland police, WorkSafe Queensland and the state coroner.

AMSA previously commented: “AMSA 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 has reported that it understands that Coral Expeditions will hand over all the information that these agencies require, and that all crew members will be made available for questioning.

The decision to cancel the cruise comes as more and more information has been surfacing that has people questioning the conduct of the cruise line in the lead up to this tragic incident.

Katherine Rees, the daughter of Suzanne, previously spoke out, saying that she was shocked that her mother, an 80 year old woman, had been told to leave the hike alone, and that the cruise line hadn’t realised that she didn’t board the ship. 

She spoke more to The Australian: “It is our understanding from Queensland Police that Suzanne was with a group of 10 or more passengers and two staff members from the boat guiding the walk.

“We were told that halfway through the climb, she said to the accompanying staff that she was feeling unwell and they directed her to walk back down to the boat by herself.”

Suzanne would never make it back to the ship after being reportedly told this and it appears her death warrants further investigation, with a multi-agency investigation already launched. The cancelling of the rest of the cruise was seemingly inevitable, as publications and social media alike question the events that led to the incident.

Further details of the incident can be read here, with the devastating events happening last Saturday, but new information continues to come to light.

For now, we know that the rest of the cruise is cancelled, and the over 100 passengers onboard will be offered refunds and assisted in finding a flight home to their respective cities. Then when the ship arrives in Cairns, the investigation of AMSA will properly commence and Suzanne’s family, and many people in Australia, will be keenly awaiting the results of the investigation.