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One two-month cruise around Australia has been cancelled following the death of an elderly female passenger who was stranded by the vessel on a remote tropical isle.

The passenger had been walking on Lizard Island with other travelers from the cruise ship, but broke off from the excursion for a break. The vessel departed without her and went back after some time after the ship staff realised the woman was not present.

A large-scale rescue mission discovered her person the following day.

Investigative bodies are investigating the incident, together with police and the medical examiner.

The CEO of the cruise operator stated that passengers and staff on the ship were told that the continuation of the cruise had been terminated due to the "unfortunate death and prior technical problems".

In a statement, he further stated that passengers would be given a complete reimbursement, and said the operator was working "to organize the return journeys of the passengers via chartered flights".

Officials also released an latest communication, and said they had "delivered a directive to the Commander" banning any new passengers from boarding the liner.

The representative said that they would visit the vessel in the port city upon its coming back.

Timeline of Incidents

The liner originally sailed from the Australian port on 24 October, and was merely two days into the expedition at the point of the senior passenger's death. Lizard Island was the opening port on the journey.

Guests on board - who typically pay substantial amounts of dollars to take part in the voyage - were transported there for a daily excursion with the possibility of walking or snorkelling.

Next of Kin Response

The daughter of the elderly passenger said that her family was "stunned and distressed that the vessel left the island after an organised excursion without my parent".

Via her announcement, she characterized her mother as an "vigorous elderly person" who was a member of a walking organization.

"According to scant information we have been provided, it seems that there was a failure of responsibility and common sense," she said.

She added that she hoped the investigation would be able to pinpoint what "the company should have performed that might have saved Mother's being".

"Based on information from the authorities that it was a exceptionally warm period, and she became unwell on the hill climb," she stated.

"Officials suggested her to head down, without accompaniment. Then the vessel departed, reportedly without doing a headcount.

"At a certain moment in that chain of events, or soon after, she died, by herself."

Company Response

Through an announcement, the Head verified that the organization was "cooperating fully with investigators to support their inquiry".

He said that the organization was "extremely apologetic that this has occurred" and had offered its complete assistance to the loved ones.

Cruise Industry Procedures

The liner caters for up to one hundred twenty passengers with 46 personnel, according to corporate information. It was specially constructed to access isolated areas of Australia's shoreline and is outfitted with "tenders" - small boats used to ferry travelers on day excursions.

Occurrences of this nature are infrequent, and cruise ships have protocols to record which passengers are boarding or leaving, according to industry experts.

"Going ashore secretly or [back] aboard really isn't an choice," an authority stated.

Shipping companies consider these methods very seriously and have "sophisticated systems in place to avoid such occurrences from occurring," the authority further stated.

"This appears to be most likely a surprising - and sad - single occurrence."