AFTER the successful refloating of Coral Expeditions’ Coral Adventurer at around 1800 yesterday [30 December] the vessel remains at anchor off the Papua New Guinea coast while divers and authorities survey the condition of the hull.
The salvage was accomplished by through a multi-agency response using PacTow tugs from Lae, with the manoeuvre delayed until the 80 passengers aboard were safely evacuated to the chartered Lutheran Shipping small ro-pax Ialibo, which took them the 30km to Lae to board a repatriation flight to Cairns.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has despatched investigators to the ship, which being guarded by local Water Police, who had also proved an escort for Ialobo.
Morobe Provincial police commander, Chief Superintendent Samson Siguyaru, told the PNG National Broadcasting Corporation the force had provided land and water security.
He said 78 of the passengers were international tourists, while the remaining five included a female PNG Customs officer, a male PNG shipping agent based in Madang, and three off-duty crew members of Coral Adventurer who were due for end-of-year leave.
There were no injuries amongst passengers or the 43 crew, and no pollution has been reported with the hull said to be intact.
Coral Adventurer struck a reef off the Finschaffen Coast at around 0525 local time on Saturday [27 December] in the waters of Morobe Province during passage between Lae and Wewak.
An early salvage attempt by PacTow’s Macedon faltered when the tug’s engine overheated. The more powerful Langila was subsequently deployed.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has detained the Cairsn-registered vessel in accordance with the Navigation Act 2012, “based on reasonable suspicion that it is not seaworthy due to potential damage sustained during the grounding, and that it is sub-standard as a result of failures in the implementation of its Safety Management System under the International Safety Management Code.”
The 2019-built, 5,516 GRT Coral Adventurer had departed Cairns on 18 December on a 12-night cruise, which was due to conclude yesterday [30 December]. It was the ship’s first trip since an unfortunate October incident when an 80-yo passenger was inadvertently left behind after a landside excursion on Lizard Island. The subsequent death of the woman is the subject of several investigations.