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One two-month voyage through the Land Down Under has been cancelled following the death of an elderly lady who was stranded by the ship on a isolated island.

The passenger had been walking on Lizard Island with other travelers from the Coral Adventurer, but parted ways from the party for a rest. The vessel departed without her and returned later that day after the crew discovered the passenger was unaccounted for.

A major hunt found her remains the following day.

Authorities are looking into the incident, together with police and the medical examiner.

Chief Executive of the shipping company said that guests and crew on the Coral Adventurer were notified that the rest of the cruise had been cancelled due to the "sad loss and prior mechanical issues".

Via official communication, he added that passengers would be issued a complete reimbursement, and said the operator was working "to arrange the travel back of the individuals via specially arranged planes".

Officials also published an revised statement, and said they had "issued a notice to the Captain" prohibiting any additional guests from boarding the ship.

The spokesperson said that they would visit the ship in the Australian city upon its coming back.

Sequence of Events

The ship first departed the coastal city on October 24th, and was merely two days into the voyage at the moment of the elderly woman's death. The remote island was the first stop on the voyage.

Passengers on the vessel - who usually pay tens of thousands of currency to join the voyage - were taken there for a day trip with the option of hiking or snorkelling.

Next of Kin Response

The daughter of the victim said that her loved ones was "surprised and saddened that the ship left Lizard Island after an organised excursion without my parent".

Via her announcement, she characterized her mum as an "energetic octogenarian" who was a affiliate of a hiking group.

"According to scant information we have been provided, it seems that there was a failure of responsibility and basic judgment," she stated.

She further stated that she hoped the examination would be able to determine what "the organization should have undertaken that might have protected Mum's life".

"According to reports from the investigators that it was a extremely warm day, and mum became unwell on the mountain ascent," she revealed.

"Officials suggested her to head down, unescorted. Then the ship departed, seemingly without doing a passenger count.

"At a certain moment in that sequence, or soon after, mother succumbed, without company."

Company Reaction

Via official communication, the CEO confirmed that the company was "working closely with investigators to aid their examination".

He said that the organization was "very regretful that this has occurred" and had offered its full support to the family.

Shipping Sector Practices

The vessel caters for up to one hundred twenty passengers with forty-six staff, according to company data. It was specifically designed to reach isolated locations of Australia's coast and is equipped with "auxiliary vessels" - compact vessels used to take travelers on day excursions.

Occurrences of this nature are rare, and passenger vessels have protocols to record which passengers are embarking or leaving, according to maritime specialists.

"Sneaking ashore or [back] onboard really isn't an option," an authority stated.

Cruise lines take these processes with great importance and have "advanced technology in place to prevent such occurrences from happening," the specialist further stated.

"This is most likely a surprising - and sad - one-off."