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A 60-day voyage around the Australian Coast has been cancelled following the tragic passing of an senior female passenger who was abandoned by the ship on a remote coastal location.

Suzanne Rees had been hiking on Lizard Island with fellow passengers from the cruise ship, but parted ways from the party for a break. The liner sailed away leaving her and returned after some time after the ship staff realised the lady was unaccounted for.

A large-scale hunt found her person the next day.

Investigative bodies are investigating the incident, in coordination with investigators and the medical examiner.

Chief Executive of the shipping company announced that guests and personnel on the vessel were notified that the rest of the journey had been terminated due to the "unfortunate death and earlier technical problems".

In a statement, he added that passengers would be issued a complete reimbursement, and said the operator was working "to organize the homeward trips of the travelers via private aircraft".

Officials also issued an updated communication, and said they had "delivered a directive to the Commander" prohibiting any additional guests from getting on the ship.

The representative said that they would inspect the liner in Cairns upon its return.

Timeline of Occurrences

The liner originally sailed from the coastal city on 24 October, and was just two days into the journey at the time of the elderly woman's death. The remote island was the first stop on the itinerary.

Guests on board - who typically pay large sums of currency to join the cruise - were ferried there for a shore visit with the choice of walking or underwater exploration.

Relatives Reaction

The daughter of the deceased woman said that her loved ones was "shocked and distressed that the ship left the location after an organised tour without my mother".

In her statement, she described her parent as an "vigorous octogenarian" who was a affiliate of a hiking group.

"Based on limited details we have been informed, it appears that there was a failure of care and basic judgment," she stated.

She added that she desired the examination would be able to determine what "the operator should have performed that might have preserved Mother's being".

"Based on information from the authorities that it was a extremely warm period, and mother fell ill on the mountain ascent," she explained.

"Officials suggested her to return, unescorted. Then the boat sailed away, apparently without conducting a headcount.

"At a certain moment in that sequence, or soon after, mother succumbed, alone."

Company Reaction

Through an announcement, the CEO affirmed that the organization was "working closely with officials to aid their examination".

He mentioned that the firm was "deeply sorry that this has transpired" and had provided its total backing to the family.

Cruise Industry Practices

The vessel accommodates up to a hundred twenty travelers with forty-six staff, according to official information. It was specifically designed to reach isolated regions of Australia's coastline and is fitted with "auxiliary vessels" - minor craft used to take travelers on day excursions.

Occurrences such as this are rare, and cruise ships have systems to document which individuals are boarding or leaving, according to industry experts.

"Leaving covertly or [back] aboard just isn't an possibility," one expert commented.

Vessel operators consider these processes with great importance and have "sophisticated systems in place to stop such occurrences from happening," the expert continued.

"This appears to be presumably a surprising - and sad - isolated incident."