The Coral Adventurer, a cruise ship based in Cairns, has been detained by authorities following an incident where it ran aground in the South Pacific. Passengers are now being flown back home.

The vessel struck a coral reef near Papua New Guinea, approximately 30 kilometers from Lae, early Saturday morning. This was its first voyage since a tragic passenger death.

Fortunately, none of the 80 passengers or 43 crew members sustained injuries during the incident.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has detained the ship amid concerns about its seaworthiness.

In a statement, AMSA explained, “The vessel has been detained under the Navigation Act 2012, based on reasonable suspicion of being unseaworthy due to potential damage from the grounding. It is also considered sub-standard due to failures in its Safety Management System as per the International Safety Management Code.”

Despite the grounding, Coral Adventurer had previously claimed that there was no indication of damage to the ship.

Today, passengers were ferried to the mainland before travelling home to Australia, via a chartered flight to Cairns.

Australian and PNG authorities had been working to re-float the cruise ship but efforts had been unsuccessful until earlier today.

It’s no longer grounded with experts managing to move it off the reef today.

It’s now anchored nearby and undergoing further inspections.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating and will conduct interviews and collect evidence.

“In the meantime, data from the ship’s voyage data recorder has been quarantined, and investigators are collecting other relevant recorded information, including ship tracking data, weather information, and crew, operator and maintenance records,” the bureau said in a statement. 

The 12-night cruise, costing $13,280 per person, departed from Cairns on December 18 and reached Papua New Guinea on December 20.

It was cruising up the coastline before it ran aground on Saturday.

Coral Adventurer has faced troubled waters after the death of 80-year-old NSW tourist Suzanne Rees in October.

The cruise ship left her behind during a luxury trip to the remote Lizard Island, where she was later found dead by police.

Investigations into that event are ongoing.