As you all know, cruise travel is quite safe, given the level of security on board and during excursions.
Nevertheless, in the last period, we have been reading more and more worrying news about brawls, people falling overboard, and missing passengers.
The latest bad news comes from Australia, where a shocking accident has left the cruise community asking how such an oversight could happen and what it means for passenger safety on future trips.
The Incident
The incident occurred during an exclusive 60-day circumnavigation cruise around Australia.
The trip was operated by Coral Expeditions, which is quite a luxurious cruise line that opts for small and intimate ships.
Just consider that the Coral Adventurer can host only 112 passengers and the trip cost can reach tens of thousands of dollars per person.
All this is also because they offer exclusive excursions to places that other cruise lines don’t reach.
The ship departed from Cairns in Queensland on Friday as the first leg of its journey, and the very next day, Saturday, October 25, 2025, it anchored off Lizard Island, a remote tropical isle on the Great Barrier Reef about 320 km north of Cairns.
Passengers were ferried ashore in small tender boats to explore the island’s famous beaches and hiking trails.
An 80-year-old solo traveler from Australia joined a guided group hike up to Cook’s Look, which is the island’s highest peak.
Partway through the hike, the woman indicated she was having difficulty and told the others she would turn back toward the beach while the rest of the group continued up the trail without her.
Missing After a Shore Excursion
Lizard Island’s trails are challenging, and the group likely assumed their fellow passenger would safely make her way back.
However, she never returned to the landing point. Unaware of the situation, the Coral Adventurer finished its scheduled stop and departed the island around sunset (between 6–7 pm) with the passenger still on shore.
Crucially, no immediate headcount or check flagged her absence at departure.
The other hikers rejoined the ship via tender boats and only later realised that the woman was not among them on board.
In fact, the crew and passengers did not notice anyone missing until well into the night.
By the time the alarm was raised, the cruise ship was already hours away from Lizard Island.
It was nearly midnight on Saturday when the crew became aware that the passenger had failed to re-embark.
This means the woman had been left behind on the island for several hours without anyone on the ship realizing it.
Initial confusion led to fear that she might have fallen overboard at sea, since she was simply nowhere to be found.
This prompted the captain and crew to urgently alert authorities once they confirmed she was missing.
Overnight Search and Tragic Discovery
Once the situation became clear, a full-scale search and rescue operation was launched in the middle of the night.
Authorities were alerted late Saturday night, and teams mobilised by land, sea, and air to look for the missing woman.
The Coral Adventurer itself turned around and sailed back toward Lizard Island to assist in the search.
According to marine traffic data, the ship reversed course and reached the island vicinity again by about 1–2 am Sunday.
A helicopter, provided by Nautilus Aviation, arrived overhead and swept the dark island with spotlights, focusing on the last known area the woman was seen – along the Cook’s Look hiking route.
On arriving, the cruise ship’s crew sent a search party of seven people ashore with flashlights to scour the trails in the pre-dawn hours.
Despite these efforts, there was no sign of the missing passenger overnight.
At first light on Sunday, the search resumed. A rescue helicopter took to the sky again around 9:30 am and almost immediately spotted the woman’s body near the island’s highest peak, Cook’s Look.
She was found not far from the walking track, suggesting she may have collapsed or lost her way close to where she had been hiking.
Police and emergency personnel arrived and recovered the body later that day.
Tragically, the 80-year-old passenger was confirmed dead at the scene on Lizard Island.
Queensland Police have described the death as “sudden and non-suspicious,” indicating no foul play is suspected.
A report is being prepared for the coroner to determine the official cause of death and examine exactly what went wrong.
Reactions from Authorities and Cruise Line
In the wake of the incident, both company officials and local authorities expressed sorrow and promised full cooperation with the investigation.
Coral Expeditions – the cruise operator – confirmed the “tragic death” of one of its passengers during the Lizard Island excursion.
Mark Fifield, CEO of Coral Expeditions, stated,
“On Saturday, 25 October, the crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea… Following the operation, [we were] notified by Queensland Police that the woman had been found deceased on Lizard Island.”
He said the company is deeply sorry for what happened and is supporting the woman’s family through this difficult time.
Fifield added that the company is working closely with police and maritime officials in the ongoing investigation.
AMSA, which regulates maritime safety, has launched its own investigation into the circumstances.
The agency intends to interview the ship’s crew in Darwin to understand how the passenger was apparently left behind and whether all required safety procedures were followed.
Safety Protocols Under Scrutiny
As I was saying at the beginning of the article, this rare incident has sparked a broader conversation about cruise safety and passenger accountability, especially during shore excursions in remote locations.
Seasoned cruise-goers know that before a ship departs any port or stop, there are strict procedures to account for all passengers – usually through ID checks or headcounts.
In fact, Australian maritime regulations require operators to monitor passengers and perform headcounts so that no one is left behind.
Despite these rules, the situation on Lizard Island suggests a potential lapse in enforcement or communication.