Passengers begin journey home as cruise ship remains stuck on PNG reef
Passengers of an Australian cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Papua New Guinea have begun their journey home, as efforts to free the ship remain unsuccessful.
Passengers of an Australian cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Papua New Guinea have begun their journey home, as efforts to free the ship remain unsuccessful.
Tourists who were on board the Coral Adventurer when it hit a reef on Saturday are now on their way via a passenger boat to Lae, PNG's second largest city, where it's expected they will take a charter flight home to Australia.
PNG Maritime Rescue Chief Search and Rescue Coordinator, Ben Keri, told the ABC on Tuesday that the boat, MC Ialibu, was expected to arrive at the city in the afternoon.
Mr Keri said all 80 passengers had disembarked the Coral Adventurer, which was now under a restraining order for investigation once it is salvaged.
About 120 people, including 43 crew, were aboard the Cairns-based ship when it struck the coral reef about 90 kilometres from Lae, the capital of Morobe Province.
The ship's operator, Coral Expeditions, said no-one onboard the vessel was injured.
It announced on Monday it would end the vessel's tour a day before its scheduled finish and fly passengers to Australia.
It is understood they will fly to Cairns.
Early efforts to tow the cruise ship with tugboats have failed. (Supplied: Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary)
Early attempts to refloat and free the vessel failed, but a larger tugboat has been sent from Lae and was expected to try towing the cruise ship on Tuesday.
PNG police said inspections had shown the vessel remained stable, with no major damage to its hull identified yet.
Agency begins investigation into ship's grounding
The Coral Adventurer was transiting through Morobe, Madang and Sepik provinces and passing Dregerhafen Point at 5:30am local time when it hit strong sea currents and ran aground.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it had started a safety investigation into the incident and was gathering evidence.
"Should a critical safety issue be identified at any time during the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify the operators of the ship and other relevant parties so that appropriate and timely safety action can be taken," the agency said in a statement.
"A final report will be published at the conclusion of the investigation."
The Coral Adventurer cruise ship ran aground on Saturday about 90km from Lae, Papua New Guinea's second-largest city. (Supplied: Jurgen Ruh)