An 80-year-old woman’s dream vacation has ended in a devastating tragedy, raising serious questions about cruise ship safety protocols. Suzanne Rees of New South Wales was found dead on a remote Australian island after the Coral Adventurer cruise ship allegedly departed without her. The incident occurred on Lizard Island, the first stop of a luxurious 60-day circumnavigation of Australia.
According to her grieving daughter, Katherine Rees, the series of events points to a catastrophic failure of care. Suzanne had been on an organized hiking excursion on the island on a very hot day. When she fell ill during a hill climb, she was reportedly instructed to descend back to the shore alone and unescorted. The situation turned critical when the cruise ship later left the island, seemingly without ensuring all passengers were present.
Katherine Rees expressed her profound shock and sadness, stating that the ship left “apparently without doing a passenger count.” This left her mother stranded alone on the remote island. At some point after being left behind, Suzanne Rees died. Queensland Police have described her death as “sudden and non-suspicious,” but the exact circumstances are under investigation.
The alarm was raised by the ship’s crew late on Saturday, October 25. A search and rescue operation was launched in the early hours of the following morning. Tragically, the mission turned into a recovery effort when a rescue helicopter located Suzanne’s body on Lizard Island on October 26. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has confirmed it is investigating why the passenger was not accounted for during boarding.
Coral Expeditions Chief Executive Mark Fifield has issued a statement expressing that the company is “deeply sorry” for the tragedy and is offering support to the family. For Suzanne Rees’s family, the focus is now on a coronial inquiry, which they hope will determine what the cruise company could have done to prevent this heartbreaking outcome.
