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An extensive two-month voyage around the Land Down Under was terminated in the wake of the death of an senior lady who was left behind by the cruise liner on a distant tropical isle.

Suzanne Rees had been walking on Lizard Island with shipmates from the vessel, but parted ways from the group for a rest. The vessel departed without her and returned later that day after the crew became aware the woman was unaccounted for.

An extensive hunt found her remains the subsequent day.

Authorities are examining the event, in coordination with law enforcement and the official investigator.

Head of the shipping company announced that passengers and personnel on the vessel were notified that the remainder of the voyage had been terminated due to the "unfortunate death and previous mechanical issues".

In a statement, he further stated that travelers would be issued a complete reimbursement, and said the organization was working "to coordinate the travel back of the individuals via specially arranged planes".

Officials also issued an latest statement, and said they had "issued a order to the Commander" preventing any further travelers from entering the ship.

The representative said that they would inspect the ship in Cairns upon its coming back.

Chronology of Occurrences

The liner originally sailed from Cairns on the 24th of October, and was only 48 hours into the expedition at the point of the elderly woman's death. The tropical location was the initial destination on the voyage.

Travelers on the ship - who usually pay large sums of money to join the cruise - were taken there for a day trip with the possibility of walking or snorkelling.

Next of Kin Statement

The offspring of the victim said that her family was "stunned and saddened that the vessel left Lizard Island after an scheduled outing without my mother".

Through her comments, she described her parent as an "vigorous elderly person" who was a participant of a hiking club.

"According to scant information we have been told, it looks that there was a breakdown of responsibility and ordinary reasoning," she mentioned.

She added that she hoped the examination would be able to determine what "the operator should have undertaken that might have preserved Her being".

"Based on information from the authorities that it was a exceptionally warm period, and mum fell ill on the uphill trek," she revealed.

"They requested her to head down, unescorted. Then the vessel sailed away, apparently without performing a roll call.

"At some stage in that process, or not long after, mother succumbed, alone."

Operator Reaction

In a statement, the Head confirmed that the company was "cooperating fully with investigators to aid their inquiry".

He mentioned that the organization was "extremely apologetic that this has occurred" and had extended its total backing to the relatives.

Shipping Sector Procedures

The ship caters for up to 120 passengers with 46 crew, according to corporate information. It was specifically designed to access isolated regions of Australia's coastline and is outfitted with "auxiliary vessels" - small boats used to ferry individuals on shore trips.

Events such as this are infrequent, and liners have systems to track which travelers are embarking or disembarking, according to travel authorities.

"Going ashore secretly or [back] aboard really isn't an possibility," a specialist commented.

Vessel operators consider these methods extremely carefully and have "advanced technology in place to stop such events from happening," the expert added.

"This appears to be most likely a shocking - and unfortunate - one-off."